Sayre (Shadow, below, etc.) finds more wonder than menace in the march of army ants across a tropical rain forest’s floor, noting that they only forage when there are larvae to be fed, and cataloguing some of the wildlife that takes advantage of what is fleeing the voracious columns. “Lizards skirt the edges, grabbing fleeing insects. Butterflies drink droppings antbirds leave.” In Chrustowski’s (Bright Beetle, 2001, etc.) clean-lined paintings, those columns look as solid as lava flows from a distance, resolving in the foregrounds to black and orange individuals ready to seize any insect or other small animal too unwary to flee. “A frog is caught in the swarm and hops too late.” “A mother bird peers out from her cozy nest. Her chicks can’t fly. And ants are climbing closer . . . ” But the ants are not—the author claims—going to climb a human observer’s boots. Children may still prefer to appreciate army ants from a safe distance—and these pages are a fine way to do that. (afterword) (Picture book/nonfiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8050-6353-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2002
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
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