Ant Story

by Jay Hosler (Author) Jay Hosler (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade

Insect-extraordinaire Jay Hosler is back, this time exploring how we seek to understand ourselves and the world around us through the eyes of one of our world's tiniest creatures: the ant.

Meet Rubi, a tiny ant with a big personality and an even bigger love for stories. Who knew the small world of her colony could be full of unexpected friendships, epic adventures, and death-defying escapes?

Follow Rubi on the journey of a lifetime as she uncovers the mystery and wonder of one of the world's tiniest, mightiest insects.

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Paperback
$15.99

Kirkus

Starred Review
A must-read for lovers of ants, ecosystems…and unlikely friendships.

None

Snappy dialogue [and] excellent pacing. Thoroughly engrossing.

Publishers Weekly

Through the lens of a charismatic cartoon ant born into a colony of realistically rendered leafcutter ants, biologist and cartoonist Hosler (The Way of the Hive) highlights entomological wonders and examines how humans seek to understand nature through storytelling in this informative and danger-filled graphic novel. As the only talking ant in the colony, Rubi passes the time in her subterranean agricultural palace by telling stories to silent worker ants chopping leaves for their fungus garden, a food source and larvae nursery. Seeking companionship, Rubi leaves the colony, only to face myriad perils. While under attack by a camouflaged lizard, Rubi saves Miranda, another talking insect. Together, the new friends flee the "death tongue," avoid unfriendly ants, and fall into an antlion's trap. When Rubi discovers that Miranda may be a phorid, an insect that lays its egg inside an ant's head, she must decide if she can risk remaining friends with her species's mortal enemy. Vibrant drawings and Hosler's enthusiasm and knowledge of the natural world combine to form this cheerfully gross depiction of how ants feed and incubate larvae, preserve food, or become food sources themselves, with poop playing a pivotal role in many of Rubi's activities. Ages 8-12. Agent: Judith Hansen, Hansen Literary Management. (Mar.)

Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

ALA/Booklist

A truly lovely coming-of-age tale buzzing with bee facts, this is a honey pot for budding entomologists, naturalists, and scientists of all variety.

Review quotes

"Graphic novel fans, lovers of nonfiction, budding ecologists, and readers looking for their next great obsession will be buzzing around this title for years to come." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Vivid colors and playful use of varying perspectives and panel sizes work well to convey both tension and exuberance. Readers who never gave much thought to what is going on under their feet will likely want to get down low and observe some ants at work, and if it makes them be a little more careful with insect lives and natural habitats, so much the better." — Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Jay Hosler
Jay Hosler is a biology professor at Juniata College and a cartoonist. His first graphic novel, Clan Apis, won a Xeric Award. His book Evolution: The Story of Life on Earth, was a Junior Library Guild selection and has been included in the Texas Library Association's "Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List." He lives in central Pennsylvania with his wife and two children.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780063293991
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Harperalley
Publication date
March 26, 2024
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV002140 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Insects, Spiders, etc.
JUV029010 - Juvenile Fiction | Nature & the Natural World | Environment
JUV008050 - Juvenile Fiction | Comics & Graphic Novels | Animals
Library of Congress categories
Behavior
Graphic novels
Comics (Graphic works)
Ants

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