Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Ant and Honey Bee: A Pair of Friends in Winter
Illustrator: G. Brian Karas
Fiction
For ages 5 to 7
Candlewick, 2013 ISBN: 978-0763657123
It is the first day of winter and when Ant looks outside everything is gray. When she listens to the weather forecast on the radio she hears that “Cold. Rain. Sleet. Snow” is expected. Ant is dismayed because she does not like wintery weather. She is also feeling lonely. Her best friend, Honey Bee, went to sleep some time ago and Ant has no one to talk to or to do things with. Ant could hibernate herself, but she does not feel ready for sleep quite yet.
Ant does her best to keep herself busy, but she soon uses up all her “one-person things to do,” so she decides to send an email to Honey Bee. Maybe, just maybe, her best friend might be awake after all. To Ant’s delight her email is replied. In her message Honey Bee says that she is “Busy being alone.” Surely the best thing for Ant to do is to go over to Honey Bee’s house “to rescue her friend from being alone.”
Unfortunately, Honey Bee does not want to be rescued. She is grumpy and wants Ant to leave. Ant does her best to be quiet and to give Honey Bee the space she seems to want, but being quiet is not one of Ant’s gifts. She is itching to do something with her friend on this first day of winter.
In this often funny beginner chapter book children will meet an ant who is determined to spend time with her best friend. It is hard not to laugh at the interactions between the two insects, and children will be delighted when they see what Ant and Honey Bee do to get rid of the winter blues.
