Books celebrating Ants and Doves!

Upon returning from my end-of-summer break, I discovered a bunch of summer releases I’d neglected to share. Taking care of that forthwith! Today’s books celebrate animals, behavior, and human interactions.

Rosemary Mosco writes and illustrates a variety of things, from her Bird and Moon comics to chapter books. Her most recent picture book was released in July. It’s about ants – and I love it! 

There Are No Ants in This Book 
by Rosemary Mosco; illustrated by Anna Pirolli 
40 pages; ages 4-8
Tundra Books, 2024  

  
What a nice-looking book this is! It’s the perfect place for… a picnic.

The reason? There are no ants… it even says so on the cover. Except, as we turn the page we discover that there’s one ant. That might be okay, but then two more ants show up, then more until there are Ten Ants! And that turns out to be fine with the character, because she’s discovering just how cool ants are.

What I like love about this book: I love that each ant is a different species, from a tiny acorn ant to a huge dinosaur ant. The back matter provides a brief bio for each of the ten ants, with their scientific name, where they live, and a cool fact. I’d write more, but I want to go check the acorns in the yard for … ants!

Over the past decade or so I’ve enjoyed reading books written by Sara Levine. Whether it’s animal bones or flower talk or math, she combines fun with STEM. Her newest picture book is all about… well, the title says it all.

A Terrible Place for a Nest 
by Sara Levine; illustrated by Erika Meza 
40 pages; ages 4-8
Roaring Brook Press, 2024 

  
When Juno and his mom lost their home, they had to move to a new place.

Juno doesn’t like his new room. The local grocer doesn’t carry his favorite cereal. Making new friends is hard, and mourning doves are building a nest on the fence right next to the gate. “This is a terrible place!” Juno yells. 

What I like about this book: I like how Juno helps the doves when their nest falls to the ground, and how he decides to take them under his wing (so to speak). As the dove family grows, we see Juno’s circle of friends grow, and the ways they come up with to protect the nest, despite its suboptimal location. I also like how Sara’s story focused on a bird that is distributed across the continental US, Mexico, and southern Canada. So any kid reading or listening to this story can see mourning doves – or their rock dove “pigeon” cousins – around their neighborhood.

Beyond the Books:

Make a picnic for the ants in your yard or at a park. What sort of food will you provide? Remember, some ants like sweets, others like meat, and some will eat anything. Make sure you put your ant picnic on a sheet of paper so the ants can reach their favorite food.

Once you’ve made your ant picnic, observe the ants that visit. What ants arrive first? Do they stick around and eat or do they scurry away, only to return with a friend or two or ten? How many kinds of ants did you see?

Maybe you’d rather make a picnic for mourning doves. They like to eat sunflower seeds, millet, oats, unshelled peanuts, and cracked corn. You can learn more about attracting mourning doves at exploring birds.

This summer a robin tried building a nest over a door. It was a terrible place for a nest! Are there any birds nesting in “terrible places” around your house? What kind of bird, and where did they try to build their nest?

Today we’re joining Perfect Picture Book Friday. It’s a wonderful gathering where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copies provided by the publishers.