The Grasshopper & the Ants

From an unparalleled artist, another brilliant work.

PreS-Gr 2—Grasshopper arrives on the cover with bass drum and cymbals on his back, concertina between his midlegs, and forelegs strumming his banjo. "Why work so hard?" he sings to some busy ants. "It's spring and time to go fishing." But the ants, gathering food for winter, have no time to relax. In summer, the ants decline Grasshopper's invitation for a leafy picnic and some music, and his fall solicitation to "come dance and sing!" in the "playground of leaves" finds no takers. When snowflakes fall, Grasshopper builds a "snow-hopper," then sits freezing with forelegs and midlegs crossed over vest-covered abdomen, while the ants can be seen knitting, stoking the fire, and caring for their young in a cozy tree trunk home. Eventually invited inside by the Ant Queen, fun-loving Grasshopper gladly shares his musical talents with the amiable colony, then sits down to songs, tea, and cookies with the queen. Full-page vivid watercolor paintings bustling with natural activity and fanciful detail flow through the hues of the seasons, ending in the spare whiteness of winter. Fine line pencil-drawn strings and frets on his banjo, intricate snowflake shapes, the lace of a dragonfly's wings, and the colorful flow of musical bars all demonstrate Pinkney's painstaking concern with detail. So does the way a small bit of leafy scenery on the lower front flyleaf blends perfectly into the spring woodland greenery on the endpapers. VERDICT A lively and engaging version of a favorite Aesop fable.—Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker Public Library, OH

Fans of Pinkney's Caldecott-winning The Lion & the Mouse and his other lively re-tellings may wonder how he will treat this fable, which ends ominously for the grasshopper. They need not worry. He begins by populating a lush, leafy world with ants carrying food, giving the insects expressive faces while drawing them with scientific accuracy. The grasshopper, wearing a straw boater, performs on an assortment of musical instruments. "Why labor so long?" he chirps. "It's summertime.... Come join me in making music!" Autumn comes, then winter blows in; the grasshopper sits miserably in the snow, wrapping two sets of arms around himself to keep warm. He begs food from a family of ants, but they turn him away. A remarkable gatefold spread reveals the ants' underground dwelling, their stores of food and cozy woodstove shown in cross-section. While Aesop condemns the grasshopper's inability to put off gratification, Pinkney suggests that the world is better when everyone can follow his or her own gifts. The world needs good planners, but it needs artists, too. Ages 3-6. Agent: Sheldon Fogelman, Sheldon Fogelman Agency. (Apr.)