Title – Two Bad Ants
Author(s) – Chris Van Allsburg
Illustrator/Photographer – Chris Van Allsburg
Publisher and Year – HMH Books for Young Readers, October 24, 1988
Number of pages – 32 pages
Tags/Themes – Rylie Loux, Animals, Emotion, K-1, 2-3
Genre – Fiction
Descriptive Annotation: This story is about two ants who endure a dangerous adventure in a human kitchen. When morning comes, the ants are violently awakened by a large scoop lifting them out of the crystal jar and dropping them into a hot brown liquid. They manage to escape and take one last crystal each and leave the strange and frightening place. Dragging their crystals back home, they are glad to be doing the right thing and returning to their family.
Classroom Application: This is a perfect resource for engaging students in a descriptive writing lesson. When Chris Van Allsburg is describing the kitchen he doesn’t tell the readers directly. He uses familiar descriptions for the readers to identify the setting without him actually saying it. This encourages and teaches children to give as many details as possible in their writing so the other students or readers are able to guess where their story is taking place. An example of this in Two Bad Ants is “When the ants climbed out of the holes they were surrounded by a strange red glow. It seemed to them that every second the temperature was rising. It soon became so unbearably hot that they thought they would soon be cooked.” In this excerpt, Allsburg is describing the toaster. Through this story, students are able to capture examples of the skill descriptive writing.
Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: This book represents the idea of being bad and what the consequences may be. If someone is doing something they shouldn’t be, they may not always get caught. In the story Bad Ants the ants face many obstacles because they are in a place they shouldn’t be. “But as soon as they had climbed inside, their hiding place was lifted, tilted, and lowered into a dark space.” This quote explains that once the ants thought they were in good spot, they were about to be caught. By the end of it all, after they’ve almost been drowned, cooked, and electrocuted, they are ready to head back home. This is showing the readers that sometimes it’s not a good idea to head off on your own or be somewhere you shouldn’t.