Category: Ant Books

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Ant Books to Share with Kids

Do you know some children who are interested in ants? We had a list of books for adults earlier this week, so now it is time for ant books for kids.

Nonfiction
Allen, J. and T. Humphries. (2002). Are you an ant? Backyard Books. New York: Kingfisher Publications.
The Are you a…? books are always wonderful because the author brings the child into the story by comparing the insects, in this case ants, to humans. You feel like you are in an ant colony.

Cole, J. and B. Degen (illus.) (1996). The magic school bus gets ants in its pants: A book about ants. New York: Scholastic, Inc.
This imaginative book is filled with facts about ants and very bad puns!

Dorros, A. (1988). Ant cities. Let’s Read and Find Out Science Books. New York: HarperCollins.
Probably one of the more informative books about ants for this age group.

Micucci, C. (2003). The life and times of the ant. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
An excellent introduction to ants, with cartoon illustrations.

Rodriguez, A. M. (2009). Secret of the plant-killing ants… and more. Berkley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc.
An encapsulation of current research by actual myrmecologists (ant scientists), including Nigel Franks and Deborah Gordon.

Fiction:
Climo, S. and F.X. Mora (illus.). (1995). The little red ant and the great big crumb: A Mexican fable. New York: Clarion Books.
In this lively tale, the ant finds out more about its world.

Hepworth, C. (1992). Antics: An alphabet of ants. New York: Paperstar/Putnam and Grosset group.
If you liked the puns in the Magic School House book, you’ll love these. Ant puns galore.

Hoose, P. and H. Hoose. (1998). Hey, little ant. Berkeley, CA: Tricycle Press.
Tale about a boy deciding whether or not to step on an ant. Gives the ant’s point of view.

Porte, B.A. and A. Cannon (illus.). (2000). Ma Jiang and the orange ants. New York: Orchard Books.
The orange ants in this story are named for the fact they are used to protect orange trees from pests. Ma Jiang and her family experience turbulent times in this historical account.

Van Allsbury, C. (1988). Two bad ants. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
Two ants have a wild adventure in a kitchen, told from the perspective of the small and confused ants. The illustrations are incredible.

For more information, the Kansas School Naturalist has an extensive list of books about ants for children.

(For information about my affiliation with Amazon, please click the financial disclosure button in the header of the blog).

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Books About Ants

Are you interested in learning more about ants? Why not start with some great books?

Fisher, B. L. and S. P. Cover. (2007). Ants of North America: A Guide to the Genera. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Keys to the genera of ants found in North America with line drawings to help clarify the defining characteristics.

Hansen, L. D., and J. H. Klotz. (2005). Carpenter ants of the United States and Canada. Ithaca, NY: Comstock Publishing Associates.
Laurel Hansen and John Klotz review the biology of carpenter ants (Genus Camponotus), in a book dedicated to Professor Roger Akre.

Holldobler, B. and E.O. Wilson. (1990). The ants. Cambridge MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Who would have thought a book about ants would win a Pulitzer Prize? This book has towered over all that came after it.

Holldobler, B. and E.O. Wilson. (1994). Journey to the ants: A story of scientific exploration. Cambridge MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
A briefer version of their previous book written more for the general audience.

Holldobler, B. and E.O. Wilson. (2009). The superorganism. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.
Have you read this book yet? It contains a lot of natural history information about ants, as well as other social insects, no matter what you think about their thesis.

Hoyt, E. (1996). The earth dwellers: Adventures in the land of ants. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Go with the author on a field trip of the lifetime with ant specialists Bill Brown (William Brown, Jr. ) and E.O. Wilson.

Tschinkel, W.R. (2006) The Fire Ants. Cambridge MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Walter Tschinkel shares his passion and lifetime of research on the study of fire ants.

Has anyone read The Lives of Ants by Laurent Keller and Elisabeth Gordon yet? I’d love to hear what you think.

(For information about my affiliation with Amazon, please click the financial disclosure button in the header of the blog).