Review by Booklist Review
Ages 6-9. Van Allsburg, who is not afraid to experiment with different styles of art, once again takes off in a new direction, employing a style of illustration similar to that in Ben's Dream [BKL Je 15 82]. Here, elongated lines, sharp angles, and delicate pen strokes, viewed from surprising perspectives, appear over muted- color pages as Van Allsburg tells the tale of two adventuresome ants. Accompanying their clan on a sweet crystal-gathering expedition for the mother queen, the duo decide to stay and live in the sugar bowl instead of returning home. Gorging themselves on sugar seems like a good idea, but the perils of ants out of their element soon become evident when a spoon picks them up and unceremoniously dumps them into a cup of coffee. After almost drowning, the ants are nearly roasted in a toaster and then find themselves in a hurricane-style storm (ant-size) as they whip around in a garbage disposal. Escape from there only brings them into danger again when they explore a light socket. Zapped to safety, for the moment anyway, they hurry back to their anthill, where life seems pleasant indeed. Whatever thinness there is in this odd but intriguing story is balanced by the dramatic, eye-catching graphics. Children will be fascinated by the ant- eye view that Van Allsburg provides of common everyday items-- from a spoon to the inside of a toaster to a breakfast-eater's nose. The dynamic pictures will attract a variety of different age groups, some of whom will be motivated to draw their own renditions of life in miniature. IC.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this new book by Van Allsburg, twice a winner of the Caldecott Medal, the theme of an outsider's point-of-view (touched upon most recently in his The Stranger ) is expanded. Accustomed to the orderly and uneventful life in the ant hole, all the ants enter the bizarre world of a kitchen in the search for sugar crystals for the queen. Two greedy ants stay behind in the sugar bowl, eating their fill and then falling asleep. Their slumbers end when a giant scoop drops them into a sea of boiling brown coffee. Further mishaps include a heated stay in the toaster, a hazardous swirl in the garbage disposal and a zap in an electrical outlet. When the ant troops return, the two bad ants gladly rejoin their friends and head for the safety of home. In this work, the hazards of nonconformity are clear. The narration has the feel of early newsreels where the broadcaster described unknown phenomena in clipped, clinical language: ``A strange force passed through the wet ants. They were stunned senseless and blown out of the holes like bullets from a gun.'' The resilient ants and the eerie landscapes are portrayed in strong black-and-white images, enriched by deep brown, purple, slate, gold and steely blue colors; Van Allsburg, playing with perspective, creates marvelous contrasts and images. But although Two Bad Ants is visually different from its predecessors, it shares the same strong style, dazzling artwork and whimsy that characterizes all of the artist's work. Ages 3-8. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-5 In this brief tale of the adventures of two runaway ants, Van Allsburg once again gives children a visual puzzle to solvein this case identifying common household appliances from an ant's point of view. When a troop of ants are sent to retrieve sugar crystals from a kitchen, two ants stay behind to feast and go to sleep in the sugar bowl. When morning comes they are successively stirred into a cup of coffee, almost swallowed, toasted with an english muffin, whirled through a garbage disposal, and stunned senseless in an electrical outlet. While some children will enjoy identifying the highly magnified objects, others will wonder how the ants have managed to survive any one of these disasters. The truants return home in one piece, and the last few lines supply a pallid and oddly moralistic conclusion to the story. The book is a visual tour-de-force. The highly linear, hard-edged drawings look like fine etchings which have been magnifieda technique which enhances the sense of being reduced to ant size. The colors applied in flat fields are primarily limited to earth tones and gray, combined with touches of pure white and black in lines and fields of almost luminous intensity. The intensity of the visual experience overpowers the story, which is a flat, rather cold vehicle, an excuse for a visual game which will appeal to the intellect of children older than typical picture book readers. Eleanor K. MacDonald, Beverly Hills Public Lib . (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An ant's-eye view of a raid on a sugarbowl--with further adventures for two members of the crew before they return to the queen's service. From forest to lawn, up a brick wall and over a windowsill, the ants file in quest of their treasure. The two miscreants gorge, fall asleep, and so are left behind for a series of unlikely survivals--in hot coffee, in an English muffin in a toaster, and through a garbage disposal--before returning (like Flack's Ping) to safety. Never mind; each experience is a fine pretext for Van Allsburg's extraordinary illustrations. Details are few and much enlarged; the points of view fun (and sometimes funny); the use of light and design inspired; the draughtmanship splendid. Older picture-book groups should be delighted; this should also please Van Allsburg fans of all ages. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
