Next to an Ant

by Mara Rockliff

A child compares the size of various items and discovers that she is the tallest of all.

Genres: Mathematics, Childrens, Picture Books, Fiction, Spanish Literature, School

24 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2004

About the author

Mara Rockliff is the author of many well-loved books for children. Her newest picture book is All at Once Upon a Time, about which Booklist warns, "Be prepared for this amusing storytime selection to be requested over and over."

Among her best-known titles are Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France, winner of the Cook Prize and an Orbis Pictus Honor; Around America to Win the Vote: Two Suffragists, a Kitten, and 10,000 Miles, distributed to schools and libraries across the country by the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission; and Sweet Justice: Georgia Gilmore and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which in 2023 received a Sibert Honor from the American Library Association.

Under the pen name Lewis B. Montgomery, she also wrote all twelve books in the popular Milo & Jazz Mysteries chapter book series, which has been translated into Spanish, French, Turkish, and Chinese.

Rockliff lives in Western Massachusetts. Visit her online at mararockliff.com.

Reviews

[Katrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is quick easy book that covers proportion and different sizes. This book covers everyday objects like a berry and an ant and compares the sizes. Then continues to compare more objects as it gradually moves up the proportion scale. I think this would be a great way to hook students or get them thinking about what is smaller and what is taller. This book would be a great book for a beginning activity to jump into how to measure to see which is taller. I love that this book used real life things that people know the size of. Like a berry, students can relate to this. I think that was defiantly the books strength. I think teachers can find this useful as a beginning task fro a math related lesson. This gets students minds working on what they think about size and then you can jump into how to measure those sizes. Great book with lots of bold print and colorful pictures, worth the read!

[Edita Tahiraj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Next to an Ant is a quick and effective way to introduce proportion and sizes to young children. It starts with an ant and compares a berry to it, and so forth up the proportion scale such as a puppy next to a brother, etc. This book would be a good fit to introduce before a learning activity to get children thinking about size and proportion and how it is relevant to various objects around them. A fun activity would be for students to create their own proportion and size booklet where they measure various things around them or in the classroom and record their findings.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delightful concept! Author Mara Rockliff does serious teaching about numbers and shapes, but all the learning happens in the context of doing one of the things children do best: Taking their time, watching little things like an ant and a snail. Then thinking and making discoveries.

The learning here is so accessible. Between the pacing of the text and the absolutely lovely illustrations by Pascale Constantin, the learning also feels relaxed. And very human.

Like childhood at its best: I'm so happy to give this book FIVE STARS.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a quick and easy to read book that does a good job of introducing the idea of proportion and sizes in a simple way to young children. It starts by comparing the size of an ant to that of a berry and gradually moves up as the objects become bigger in proportion. This book covers the properties of objects such as its shape, weight, color, and size. This would be a good resource to use in an introductory lesson on measurement.

[Obryanna Valencia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book will be great for children in grades pre-k through kindergarten. I like how it gives real-life animals and objects that we see in everyday life. Although it seemed very short, you could easily follow this up with a fun activity for the kiddos.

[Hong · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great book for preschoolers to learn about mathematical concepts such as comparison, size, and height. Children can classify which object is tall, taller, short, or shorter in this simple but very engaging book. Exposure to it will foster their critical thinking skills. Can use it as the topic theme and create a lesson plan in the exploration of bugs for physical and engaging hands-on learning.

[Amy Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about size comparisons. "Next to an ant, a berry is tall." Rookie Reader Level A 25 words but similar sentence structure.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is actually a pretty good young reader about size comparison. It's a nice math concept book. It would probably be best if it were used in an introductory lesson on measurement.