Ant and Grasshopper

Author: Luli Gray Illustrator: Giuliano Ferri Summary: This tale begins like the old Ant and Grasshopper fable and takes a turn at the end. Ant just cant get Grasshoppers tunes out of his head and cant count his supplies accurately because of it. Finally he lets Grasshopper into his home for the winter where he learns to enjoy Grasshoppers music and Grasshopper learns to count. Review: Booklist (February 15, 2011 (Vol. 107, No. 12)) Preschool-Grade 2. Elemental contrast is at the core of this lively retelling, which adds a new twist to the traditional fable about the title characters. Careful, compulsive Ant lives in a grand house, where he counts and keeps records of all the food that he has stored for the coming winter. He is irritated by Grasshopper, who likes to play the fiddle and sing outside his windows. The watercolor-and-colored-pencil scenes show the two creatures first in their opposite worlds and then standing off. After Grasshoppers singing stops, though, Ant finds that he misses the sound. After looking for Grasshopper in the snow, Ant takes him in, and in a perfect turnaround, joins in Grasshoppers songs discovers that he loves to sing, even if he is quite off-key. A final cozy picture in warm shades of red and brown shows the friends together before the fire with a closing pun: Everybody counts. Author Information: http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Luli-Gray/44994320 Illustrator Information: http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Giuliano-Ferri/69992527 Discussion Questions: o Pre-reading questions: What do you think will be the problem in the story? What do you think is a possible solution? What does the cover of the book make you think the story will be about? o Questions while reading: Why do you think Ant is being so grumpy towards the Grasshopper? Do you think Ant will share his house and supplies? Have you ever had a time when music got stuck in your head and you did not like it at first and then you actually did like it? o Post-reading questions: Why do you think Ant shared his supplies and home? What lessons did each character learn from each other? Why are both of these lessons valuable? Curricular Activities o Reading/oral language Have students practice reading orally to classmates (partner reading). Read other Aesops Fables and create your own retelling of one of those fables.

o Writing Have students write their own experiences about they have taken a part in or witnessed a compassionate person. o Math/ Technology Have students count out school supplies or home supplies and add up totals using just addition or multiplication, depending on the grade level. o Science study the habits of ants and grasshoppers o Social Studies Discuss what it means for people to take care of one another, how communities take care of people who cant care for themselves, if we should take care of others and why or why not o Art Have students draw their own representations of the characters o Drama Have students act out the story Related Books o Superdog: The Heart of a Hero By Caralyn Buehner o The Little Engine That Could By Watty Piper Other titles by Gray: o Falcons Egg o Falcon and the Charles Street Witch o Falcon and the Carousel of Time o Timespinners Other titles by Ferri: o Jonahs Whale by Eileen Spinelli o The 100th Customer by K. T. Hao, Byung-Gyu Kim o One Pizza, One Penny by Guangcai Hao. Websites for further study or enrichment: o http://www.enchantedlearning.com/stories/aesop/antgrasshopper/ this site is has a plethora of neat activities that are completely printable and fun to do based on Aesops fable The Ant and the Grasshopper. o http://www.kids-pages.com/folders/stories/Aesops_Fables/page1.htm this website is useful for this story and even more childrens stories are available. It has puzzles, worksheets, games, riddles and jokes! o http://www.hellokids.com/c_26557/coloring-page/fairy-tales-coloringpages/fables-of-la-fontaine-coloring-pages/the-grasshopper-and-the-ant-coloringpage this website has coloring pages for younger students and crafts and activities and games, some related to the story of the Ant and the Grasshopper.