An Ant's Day Off

by Bonny Becker, Nina Laden (Illustrator)

"Never stop. Never tarry.

An ant who wastes time

will never marry "

Bart the sand ant has heard these words for as long as he can remember. Never in the history of antdom has an ant taken a day off.

Still, Bart can't help but wonder what it might be like to see what goes on out there in the big, wide world.

"They'll never let you back in " warns his best friend, Floyd, about leaving the nest. But Bart leaves his mounds of work behind, and discovers just how important it is for an ant to find some time for himself every now and then.

Bonny Becker has written the perfect story for our hectic, overscheduled lives. Nina Laden's illustrations bring the bustling insect world to life with humor and verve.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Bonny Becker is the author of a number of award-winning picture books and middle-grade novels. She lives in Seattle.

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ants never take a day off. This book chronicles the daring decision of one ant, Bart, who decides that he's going to explore and take a day off. The illustrations are amazing.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing illustrations and rhyming, lyrical text tell the story of an ant who decides to take a day off and explore. His adventures are more or less realistic and it's fun to look at life from an ant's point of view. Recommended as a group read aloud for K+ on an insect, jobs, nature, or curiousity theme.

[Camie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute tale. Simple.

[Bajen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bajen Ceesay
Professor Danielle Holland
EDTR 115
Book Review
September 27th, 2011.

The Ant's day Off is a children's fiction written by Bonny Becker. The book is written to suit preschool ages 4-5years old. The is about the world of the ants.The main plot is Bart the ant who decided to take a day off from building ant hills to expolring the beatiful, wonderful, world. Bart ventures over the mointains, down the hills, through the blue sky and across the rivers where he met two friends the frogs. As bart hopped on a leaf and landed out of the stream, to his surprise, what he thought as a merry day off turned to trouble one.The smaller frog looked at him with hungry eyes and the big one snapped a fly in his mouth.On a dandelion he was picked up by a busy bee that took Bart with the pollen that made him snneeze so hard that he fell to the ground on another dandelion, the rain fell and swayed the leaf slipping Bart into a puddle of mud. Bart adventure didn't turn out the way he thought. He learned the rule not be idle.I read this book because it's easy to follow, not too long, doesn't repeat, bright colors, and could help children to understand nature and nurture.

[Sheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting picture book relating to workaholics and ants. I think elementary students would love this read for ages 4-8. I liked the dialogue between the ants. Cute illustrations, too, with all the insect body parts included and larger than lifelike representations.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot of text but it could be a good first book. It tells the story about Bart and his adventures.
Having taken a day off from his job moving sand inside the nest, Bart the ant ventures into the outside world, meets other animals, and experiences both danger and fun.

[Kerri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Used it to explain a different point of view on curiosity. Cute.

[Shannon Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute. Loved the illustrations.