Ant Cities

Ant Cities 

Author: Arthur Dorros

Illustrator: Arthur Dorros

Grade Level: 2-5

Genre: Non-Fiction 

Awards: Reading Rainbow Selection Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children, National Science Teachers Association/Children's Book Council

Summary: This book talks about many interesting facts related to ants.  It discusses how they make their hills, what's underneath them, and the roles each ant plays in the colony.  It shows what the life span of an ant might look like and what they might grow up to be.  The end of the book mentions unexpected places an ant hill might be found (ships, sidewalks, top of buildings, etc.) and encourages the reader to keep an open eye for ant hills around them.

Evaluation: I loved this book!  When I read it, I immediately thought of my brother.  For as long as I can remember, my brother has been fascinated by ants.  I would love to have this book in my classroom.  Like my brother, I think there would be a few middle school students who would enjoy picking up this quick, informative read.

The readability is between second and fifth grade.  The vocabulary is simple and easy to understand.  The book does a great job at providing illustrations for vocabulary terms that might be unfamiliar to younger readers.

It would be neat to have a classroom ant farm and use this book to make a text-to-world connection.  You could then use your classroom ant farm as a writing assignment.  Students could write a story about a time they stepped on an ant pile or saw an ant in an unexpected place.  They could then apply the vocabulary from the book in their writing.