Product Description
Horn Book : A rhyming text describes the progress of one hundred ants marching toward a picnic. To travel faster, one ant suggests dividing into two lines of fifty, then four lines of twenty-five, and finally ten lines of ten. Their frantic reorganization takes so long that the picnic is gone by the time they arrive. The illustrations, which look like linoleum cuts, use a pleasing palette and energetic lines to depict ants with highly individual characters.Publishers Weekly : "A first-time author and illustrator are off to an impressive start in this spirited story . . . The unexpected pairing of sophisticated art and light-hearted text lends this book particular distinction." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

math through litiracy
This book not only teaches math (division and multiplication) it is really fun to read.
from the catchy rhyming song, to the illustrations showing how even the turtles were already taking food by the time the ants arranged and re-arranged themselves.
points to discuss with your child or students: why were the ants so late for the picnic? the answer can be a practical one - they wasted too much time rearranging themselves - or a mathematical one - one long line of 100 ants would get there faster than 10 lines of 10.
why were the ants so angry at the littelest ant?
also it's a good time to explain the characteristic of ants: they go in a single file and share everything.
the other book "a remainder of one" was better, because it was a solution to a problem rather than a creation of a problem

Falls short, and a negative message about math
I bought this book after reading all of the positive reviews.I hate to be a grouch, but I am disappointed and will return the book for the following reasons: First, children need repetition to learn.Instead of merely showing the ants running around to rearrange themselves with each division and then going on to the next, the book should reiterate the new number of rows and how many are in each.More importantly, the message of the story is negative.It shows that the divisions were a waste of time, and the smart little ant who knew how to divide is scorned by all his ant-friends in the end. That is certainly not something I will read to my already math-apprehensive niece.Adults may be able to extractbusiness lessons out of the story, as one reviewer wrote, but if the intent is to teach math concepts to young children, the message should be that math is useful, valuable, and fun. On a less important note, another reason I am disappointed in the book is that the rhyming meter is quite poor.

Great read aloud
This is a terrific book -- when you get into it, the words are almost automatic.The math just sort of sneaks in.Very fun to read.

My number-loving 4 year old can't get enough!
My son LOVES this book! It is now one of his favorites, along with The Greedy Triangle. My son is high-functioning autistic and is obsessed with numbers - he loves to play with calculators, adding machines, and cash registers. So this book was right up his alley. He seems to be understanding the math lessons behind the book, as well, so it is both entertaining and educational for him. Highly recommended for math-curious kids.

They use this book at my child's school to teach math concepts.
This book was sent home with 100 unifex cubes to use along with the book.We used the cubes as the ants.We started off with one line of 100 cubes (as the ants).Then, in the story, they split into 2 lines of 50, so we split our cubes, too.Then, 4 lines of 25, and so on....Excellent book to use with the cubes to demonstract how many different ways to make 100. ... Read more

Book Description
Hey, little ant down in the crack

Can you hear me? Can you talk back?

See my shoe, can you see that?

Well now it's gonna squish you flat!So begins a conversation between a young boy and the ant trembling in the shadow of his sneaker. This playful story brings up questions about the ethics and peer pressure, encouraging the very youngest citizens to decide for themselves: to squish...or not to squish?! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

I loved it but...
I loved this book and the intention the author had to encourage children to consider the moral of the story. Also for a children's book it is well written with amusing rhymes. The kids also loved hearing this story. The only problem was this - they got absolutely the wrong message from it!

The book presents two arguments - the ant pleading for its life, and the boy who questions the value of the ant's life. But the author wrote the boy's side of the story so pleasingly that my kids far more enjoyed siding with the boy than with the ant, despite explanation, to my complete despair! My young listeners were quite young, ages 2-3, so perhaps this book would be better for a slightly older child.

great story
This is the best book! I use it in my Kindergarten classroom when we do a thematic unit on bugs. We act out the story then talk about the ending.

Teaches Empathy
I am a 3rd grade teacher, and I use this book in my classroom to teach about bullying, peer pressure (the boy's friends are encouraging him to squish the ant), and empathy.My students love it!I wish I could find a poster of the page where the ant is looming over the boy and asking "If you were me, and I were you, what would you want me to do?"What an incredible lesson for kids!The best part is that the book ends with the shoe looming over the ant and leaves the ending up to the reader.Kids love writing (or just inventing) their own endings!GREAT BOOK!

Hey, Little Ant
This is an excellent book about an ant who has to convince a boy why he should not squish him with his shoe. It sends a wonderful message to children that you should treat others how you would want to be treated. This rhyming text is very comical to read and the illustrations are excellent. It is a wonderful book for elementary students!

hey little ant
This wonderful book gives the reader a great feeling for this poor ant . This little ant has to negotiate for his life!! The only way to make the kid with the big shoe know how it feels to be squished is to turn the tables and make him realize what it feels like to be under an Ants' foot. This book is a must have. It teaches compassion, negotiation, and how to see the world through someonelses eyes. ... Read more

Book Description
This second edition of a Manning bestseller has been revised and re-titled to fit the 'In Action' Series by Steve Loughran, an Ant project committer. Ant in Action introduces Ant and how to use it for test-driven Java application development. Ant itself is moving to v1.7, a major revision, at the end of 2006 so the timing for the book is right. A single application of increasing complexity, followed throughout the book, shows how an application evolves and how to handle the problems of building and testing. Reviewers have praised the book's coverage of large-projects, Ant's advanced features, and the details and depth of the discussion-all unavailable elsewhere.

This is a major revision with the second half of the book completely new, including:

Book Description
The three-time Caldecott medalist tells the tale of two ants who decide to leave the safety of the others to venture into a danger-laden kitchen. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

Too Cute
This book was too cute. The ants discover a sugar source but instead of taking it back to the nest they decide to stay. After some ordeals they return to the nest wiser ants. The pictures are great in this one. The book is a lot of fun. I would recommend it for 2nd grade and below.

Awesome Ants!
This book is so, so, so cool!We loved this book very much.We could read it over and over again. It can make a very good gift for someone who loves books.I highly recommend this book for all ages. It has very very good illustrations. This book is really really awesome! It is funny, you would think it would be boring because it is called "Two Bad Ants" but after you start to look at the cool pictures and read more about it, you will think it is really cool, too!It is about two ants who are so close to being eaten but escape.I hope you will enjoy the book.If you buy it I think you will like it a lot. -KM & SS

Interesting perspective
I am a teacher who works with small groups in our school.One of the things I try to do is help kids look at things from different points of view.This story is told from the point of view of the ants, which is, of course, very different from the human point of view.Some parts of the books should definitely be discussed, because it may not be obvious to children that a forest could be blades of grass or that hot brown bitter liquid could be coffee.Follow-up activities might include students drawing their own pictures from an insect's view point, or writing a story about a small creature's adventures.

Two Bad Ants
I read Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg. I liked and would recommend this book because I liked this book and it is hysterical and it has animals in it , also it is interesting. In the book I read many funny parts . For example "Suddenly the disk they were standing on rocketed upward and the hot ants went flying through the air. This helped convince me that it was a good book.

Unknow World
In the ant world,there's an ant scout that came back with an unknown crystal from a far away place.The queen of the ant colony damands the ants get more crystals. A group of ants set off to find more crystals.The ants end up in an unusual world.This book was fun and exciting because of the danger the ants were in.

By Dontre' and Derrick




... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Excellent book for teachers
I would recommend this book to anyone teaches or works with children. This such an inspirational book with great ideas. I think every superintendent all the way down to the para-professionals need to read this book. It will totally change your way of thinking... for the better.

Best Book Ever on Teaching
I have just finished one of the best books about teaching that I have ever read. It is written by a teacher of first and second graders, but the work she does with these culturally, linguistically,and economically diverse children goes far beyond the work covered in most high school AP courses. Whether you are a teacher or not, whether you teach first grade or graduate school, I highly, highly, highly recommend this book.

A future teacher
I own this book and used it during my master's classes in education.It is a wonderful text to get you thinking about the different ways social studies and the world can be presented to your students while still meeting standards.I highly recommend it just for the sheer joy of the love of teaching Mary Cowhey teaches us!

This book is Great!!!
I am learning so much about learning styles and how to really help the kids to understand what you are teaching.It's great. ... Read more

Book Description
Soon after its launch, Ant succeeded in taking the Java world by storm, becoming the most widely used tool for building applications in Java environments. Like most popular technologies, Ant quickly went through a series of early revision cycles.With each new version, more functionality was added, and more complexity was introduced. Ant evolved from a simple-to-learn build tool into a full-fledged testing and deployment environment.Ant: The Definitive Guide has been reworked, revised and expanded upon to reflect this evolution.It documents the new ways that Ant is being applied, as well as the array of optional tasks that Ant supports.In fact, this new second edition covers everything about this extraordinarybuild managementtool from downloading and installing, to using Ant to test code.Here are just of a few of the features you'll find detailed in this comprehensive, must-have guide:

• Developing conditional builds, and handling error conditions
• Automatically retrieving source code from version control systems
• Using Ant with XML files
• Using Ant with JavaServer Pages to build Web applications
• Using Ant with Enterprise JavaBeans to build enterprise applications

Customer Reviews (16)

Check out internet instead.
This book is a regurgitation of O'Reilly web material.This book had a real opportunity to discuss Ant internals or at least something that can't be found on tech sites or the software documentation.Project wikis will undoubtedly replace the need for tech books of this sort.

Got Me Going Quickly
Web research on Ant revealed a lot of explanations, but they were very hard to understand.And I didn't want to waste time scratching my head.This book explained what Ant is and how it works in an approachable way without insulting my intelligence.The author obviously has a lot of experience in Ant and many of the other technologies it interacts with.While other comments have pointed out that it's not a reference, I can easily get those other details on the internet.This book got me up and running with Ant quickly and painlessly.It contained useful examples that actually worked when I tried to follow them.

The best book on Ant
Apache Ant is the primary build tool for Java projects and this book is excellent introduction to it. Although the title is misleading - this is not really a definitive guide (its not really reference book for starters), it is well written and easily understood. If you work through this book from start to finish then I'm confident that you'll come out the other end as an Ant expert.

A Good Introduction, but Only an Introduction
This book provides a good enough introduction to Ant, but it only takes you to the point of knowing how to use Ant and not the point of knowing how to use ant on a project of any size.As an introduction it works well.You learn how to get up and running with Ant very early on in the book, and you learn all of the key tasks rather quickly as well.Everything is explained clearly, and it seems reasonably organized.What it lacks is really any explanation of various best practices for using ant, whether on a small program or a large one.For a book of this size, I was surprised at the absence of this info and ultimately I felt that it was only a bit more useful than the free online docs for ant.

Good Place To Start With Ant
This book can take you from zero Ant knowledge to being productive in a matter of days.After starting with some simple examples, it builds up the following concepts very well:properties and types, compilation, deployment, testing with JUnit, working with CVS, and Eclipse integration.I skipped chapters 8, 9, 10, and 12 because I did not anticipate a need for them right now.However, if I need to know about web deployments, working with XML docs, optional tasks, and extending Ant I know that this book covers these things too.To get the most out of the book, you need to download ant to your computer along with the example code from the book's web site.It is very easy to modify the code and see how different options for the various tasks work. ... Read more

Book Description
Children who love to track ants wherever they wander will enjoy this inside look at the everyday life of this fascinating insect, as they explore the similarities and differences to themselves. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great ant facts
I purchased this for my child's kindergarten class and they love it.Interesting facts that the author relates to people.Good book and fun to read.

Are you an ant?
Excellent resource for curriculum unit on ants, social insects, cooperation. Good drawings, clear, and concept specific. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

LOVE IT!!
I teach 4-5 year olds and this is their favorite book!They pretty much know all the words to the book and love telling it with me.Highly recommended!!I also own the Ant in the Parking Lot book and prefer this one to it.I feel the rhyming flows better in this one.

Great book for kids and adults alike!
Purchased this book to read to my son's preschool class.The teachers enjoyed it as much as the children!Engaging and fun with great illustrations.This is one of our favorites!

Great Fun!
This book combines my son's favorite things:ants and trains.It was also a wonderful book for me to read out loud to him.It's my favorite children's book so far. And he loves it!!

Utterly charming
Our four-year old loves this book (as do I). The pace is quick, the pictures lively, and the rhymes quirky and intelligent. You will enjoy reading this together.

Great Read Aloud
This is one of my faves for preschool storytime reading.

The rhymes are natural, the plot is gripping and the pictures are large and humorous.

If you read to groups of preschoolers - or are doing a unit on insects at your primary school - don't miss this one. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Ant Cities/ciudades de hormigas
Excellent resource for curriculum unit on social insects, ants, cooperation for pk-k. ... Read more

Book Description
Ants are among the most conspicuous and the most ecologically important of insects. This concise, easy-to-use, authoritative identification guide introduces the fascinating and diverse ant fauna of the United States and Canada. It features the first illustrated key to North American ant genera, discusses distribution patterns, explores ant ecology and natural history, and includes a list of all currently recognized ant species in this large region.
* New keys to the 73 North American ant genera illustrated with 250 line drawings ensure accurate identification
* 180 color images show the head and profile of each genus and important species groups
* Includes a glossary of important terms ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The most helpful book on ants I have come across
I am a myrmecologist, and this is definitely the most helpful (and portable) ant key I have come across.

It is full of excellent illustrations and intuitive couplets, but aving said that, this book deals only with genera found in the USA, not whole North America.

The first part of the book is the dichotomous key, whereas the second part describes each genus in detail (ecology, morphological characteristics, the most recent literature dealing with that genus, etc.)

The authors have even managed to squeeze in a couple of (ant) jokes and funny anecdotes into this part of the text.
The last part of the book contains the list of all known species in North America.

The authors have made one mistake that I am aware of, and that is on page 111, where they state that genus Monomorium has 11 antennal segmnents while they actually have 12.

A Great Guide to the Life Underfoot!
Ants are one of the groups of organisms that I found fascinating from an early age.I finally settled on spiders, but ants were always in the back of my mind on the numerous field trips on which I went to pursue my eight-legged quarry. However, guides to ants were few and far between and when I was given a copy of Creighton's "The Ants of North America" I was almost as confused as I was before.While the illustrations were good, the descriptions and keys were a bit difficult and of course even by the time I was given the book, it was quite dated.

We have long needed a book such as Brian Fisher and Stefan Cover have produced in "Ants of North America: A Guide to the Genera".Among other things the photos of actual specimens are a great help in determining the genera (and in some cases sub-genera) that anyone might encounter in a backyard or in the wild. The keys are both very good and well illustrated.A good hand lens will be sufficient with many, but the size of some requires a good binocular dissecting microscope (one reason that ants are less popular than butterflies, dragonflies or even moths). Still both professional entomologists and serious amateurs will find this book very useful as a first step in the identification of the ant fauna.

Because I am a professional biologist and an entomologist I found that, although I do not know the authors, I do know at least six of the people listed in the acknowledgements - such is the small size of the entomological community.

I recommend this book highly and only wish that something like it was available when I was becoming interested in the tiny life around us.

Useful and beautiful new ant guide is here!
"Ants of North America: A Guide to the Genera" by Brian Fisher and Stefan Cover is quite simply the best identification guide (down to the genus level) available for these fascinating insects.

Combining straightforward identification keys that contain excellent line drawings of pertinent ant features with April Nobile's detailed automontage pictures, this publication functions both as a "working book" and a page-by-page display of the true beauty and diversity of these ants.

The alphabetical method of ordering the genera descriptions is also to be saluted.As the subfamily level gets re-shuffled over the years, the alphabet stays the same, and so provides a user-friendly way to thumb through the genera.

All of the genus listings contain both a head-on and lateral picture of the ant, along with diagnostic remarks and brief distribution and ecological information.

This book belongs on the bookshelf and lab workbench of every myrmecologist, and certainly any ecologist that works within the conservation field performing biodiversity surveys.It has been said that you cannot begin to understand the species you are trying to preserve if you cannot identify them, and so this book will allow any ecologist with basic entomology skills the ability to identify, as E.O. Wilson describes ants, the "little things that run the world."
... Read more

Book Description
In Ant Farm, former Harvard Lampoon president Simon Rich finds humor in some very surprising places. Armed with a sharp eye for the absurd and an overwhelming sense of doom, Rich explores the ridiculousness of our everyday lives. The world, he concludes, is a hopelessly terrifying place–with endless comic potential.

–If your girlfriend gives you some “love coupons” and then breaks up with you, are the coupons still valid?

–What kind of performance pressure does an endangered male panda feel when his captors bring the last remaining female panda to his cage?

–If murderers can get into heaven by accepting Jesus, just how awkward is it when they run into their victims?

Join Simon Rich as he explores the extraordinary and hilarious desperation that resides in ordinary life, from cradle to grave.

"Hilarious." –Jon Stewart ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

The Worst
As an avid reader anxiously awaiting the arrival of this book, I can honestly say, this is a lousy read.Maybe I don't get it, I probably don't, but this book was quite a let down.Not funny, not at all.Not even a chuckle.

Save your money.There are way too many good books out there to waste your time on this one.

Sorry to tell the truth.

Don't quit your day job, Simon.

Wittier than his dad!
I love reading Frank Rich in the NYT. When I saw his son has a book out, it piqued my interest - and I have now given copies as gifts to so many of my friends! It's perfect for both someone close or that someone you might not know so well - laughter is universal and Simon Rich gives everyone a little slice of life to enjoy with this one. My personal favorite is the museum patron, and I will gift my favorite art history professor with it shortly. Hope he does a follow up soon!

Funny Parts!
In this day and age, it's hard to find truly funny original work.This book does not disappoint.Simon Rich starts from a unique place (example: inside the head of an ant on an ant farm) and proceeds to delightful ridicule.The anti-war pieces I found tedious, but the rest of the short pieces are delightful, especially the views of students.The reading level is at sixth grade level, so it can be enjoyed by all.

Probably better in person
While Simon Rich is doubtless a very funny guy, these stories simply do not translate well to the written word. I am sure that he would have the whole bar rolling on the floor, were you to hear him in person. But when they're written instead of spoken, they lose something in the conversion. That being said, there are still some gems here... my favorite: the riff on the Army recruitment commercials. Buy this collection if you must, but I'd suggest waiting for the audio book.

Impressive beginnings
Ant Farm is a promising seminal work by Simon Rich, recent graduate of Harvard University and former president of The Harvard Lampoon.It weighs in at a fighting trim 139 pages. Although, if one were to remove all the blank pages and Roman numeral chapter pages, it would be lighter than Kate Moss after Lent.The majority of the short, one to four page, bits are creative and funny leaving one wanting more.Unfortunately, there are several that seem uninspired, such as a one page piece titled 'If Life Were Like Hockey' which probably took less than a minute to write and has a lame punchline.The bits called 'Rebellion' and 'Jesus' just seem weak.

Overall the book is solid, but it doesn't have the absurd feel that I remember in National Lampoon many years ago or more recently in The Onion.It frequently makes one smile, but rarely laugh out loud. However, I do predict a great future for 22 year old Simon Rich based on this impressive start. He's currently a good lightweight who might someday develop into a great heavyweight. ... Read more

Book Description
Not mighty in size, but mighty in resourcefulness and industry, the ant has crawled the earth since prehistoric times. It has dwelt in rainforest tree trunks and acorns of oak trees, beneath logs, and under sidewalks. It has protected forests by capturing insects, cleared weeds away from acacia trees, and by growing gardens has released important nutrients into the soil. Seed lifters, dirt diggers, social beings, ants have the most advanced brain of all insects! So watch where you step, especially on a warm day: a small but mighty ant may be underfoot. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great Book!
I homeschool my 2nd grade son and we just learned about insects and spiders. This book was PERFECT for learning about ants. Excellent pictures and information about how they live and the different varieties. I even learned a few things I didnt know!

alot of great info on ants
The Life and Time of the Ant is a cartoon type book all about ants.We learn lots of neat things about the ant family.We leaned how they communicate, about the parts of an ant's body, and all about the various kids of any in the world.One section of the book is about hoe important the ant is in the Rain Forest.We are told that ants eat insect pests, plant gardens in trees, removing decaying animals from the forest floor, and thin out plants that over crowd the forest.

The pictures are drawn in a cartoon like style.They were neat to look at while reading.

This would make a great read aloud for elementry classroom during a science unit on ants.Lots of great information is presented in a kid friendly way. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (2)

excellent book and cdI
I purchased this book and cd for my grandsons, ages 13 and 26 months. They absolutely love it! I was not surprised, having previously purchased the "Fire Truck" book and cd. I don't expect them to follow along on their own. I turn the pages of the book as we go. Great choice for kids who love books and music. Very worth the money.

Speed Marching
my daughters had difficulty turning the pages fast enough to keep up with the CD. They enjoyed the Book and CD though and overall i think its a fun set but be warned the Ants can only go marching so many times in a Minivan before they disapear.. ... Read more

Amazon.com
"Look to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise," says the proverb. Bert Hölldobler and E.O. Wilson have joined together to tell how they took this advice and to share the fruits of their wisdom. As Nature said, they "have done for ants what Levi's did for denim." Not just a good-parts version of their magisterial, Pulitzer-winning The Ants, Journey is also a double autobiography--the history of how early enthusiasm developed into an enormously fruitful scientific collaboration. "We, having entered our bug period as children, were blessed by never being required to abandon it," the authors write. Their devotion to their chosen field shines through.

Journey to the Ants gives an outstanding overview of the enormous variety and fascination of myrmecology, from the primitive bulldog ants of Australia to the complexities of weaver ant societies, slave-making ants and agriculture, army ants, and the social parasites concealed within anthills. There is an appendix with practical instructions for collecting individual ants or whole colonies, dead or alive. Hölldobler and Wilson clearly want other children to follow in their footsteps, growing from simple bug love to insights into evolution and society. --Mary Ellen Curtin Book Description

Richly illustrated and delightfully written, Journey to the Ants combines autobiography and scientific lore to convey the excitement and pleasure the study of ants can offer. Bert Hölldobler and E. O. Wilson interweave their personal adventures with the social lives of ants, building, from the first minute observations of childhood, a remarkable account of these abundant insects' evolutionary achievement.

Customer Reviews (22)

Truly a fascinating adventure to another world
Journey to the Ants is a shorter version of the authors' monumental The Ants (1990), a 732-page tome aimed at professional biologists with a lot of technical language and a clear encyclopedic intent.This book, as Holldobler and Wilson explain in the Preface, is of "a more manageable length, with less technical language and with an admitted and unavoidable bias toward those topics and species on which we have personally worked."

It is a terrific book, lavishly illustrated with many color plates, line drawings, black and white drawings, photos, etc.Especially wonderful are the color prints of paintings by John D. Dawson showing ants in various activities.His style reminds me a bit of M.C. Esher.Also notable are the many photos taken by Holldobler and Wilson during their many travels and studies.They are born renowned experts on ants around the world.

The text is both informative and entertaining.Wilson in particular is a world class science writer as well as a great scientist, and his clarity of expression and enthusiasm show through.The chapters examine and illustrate how ants live in their colonies, how they hunt prey, tend aphid "cattle," cultivate fungi, raid other ant colonies; how they fight and how they reproduce.Other chapters focus on particular species, like army ants or leaf cutter ants, or "strange" ants.Still other chapters show how ants communicate especially through pheromones and touch.There is some theory on ant origins (about 100-120 million years ago) and their evolution and present distribution.I was particularly interested in and appalled by both the way some ants are parasites and how they themselves are exploited by parasites.Our esteemed authors show how ants, for all their power and evolutionary success, can be the most naive victims of beetles, flies, butterfly larva, etc. simply because they can be fooled by smells that mimic those of the colony and/or because they can be given irresistible concoctions of food or what might be called "drugs" that make them passive and acceptive of insects that will eat their eggs and larva.They are also tricked into feeding strangers on the trail and alien larva in the colony nest!

I purposely first read a couple of other books on ants (The World of Ants: A Science-Fiction Universe (1970) by Remy Chauvin, and Ants (1977) by M.V. Brian), written by myrmecologists of an earlier generation so as to be able to better appreciate this famous work.But you need not do that.Journey to the Ants is eminently accessible to just about any literate person.

While reading I had some thoughts (as Wilson famously has had) on the differences and similarities between ant societies and human ones.Ants are not governed as we are (and as was once thought) in any way by a central authority.(They are influenced by the queen's pheromones and her behavior.)Instead ants are examples of "swarm intelligence," that is purposeful and coordinated behavior that arises from each individual doing what comes naturally to that individual.This sort of intelligence was just beginning to be appreciated when Holldobler and Wilson wrote this book.The phrase "swarm intelligence" does not appear anywhere in the book, and yet it is clear that our present understanding of how this intelligence works was gleaned in part from the work of biologists and ethologists like Holldobler and Wilson.

Ants are famous for doing human-like things that no other animals or few can do, such as gardening, tending herds, making war, and constructing elaborate living spaces.It is usually said that ants do it from pure instinct whereas we use our intelligence and the experience.Humans and ants cannot be defined independently of their respective cultures.What I wonder is, is it an artificiality to say that their intelligence, spread out as it is among the individuals and their genetic endowments, is fundamentally different from our own?Clearly ants are limited in what they can construct, what they can understand, and what tools they can make and use.I read somewhere that ants never developed fire because no ant could get close enough to a sustainable fire to tend it.

A striking conclusion is that perhaps the real difference between us comes from our ability to grow a million times bigger in size which allows us not only to tend fires, but to develop brains large enough to handle abstract thought such as in language, which further allows us to develop and share ideas, concepts, practices, and all the other aspects of our culture in a way that is impossible for ants, whose brain size is limited by their anatomy.

So, although ants were here long before we arrived, and although they probably will be here long after we are gone, it is impossible to say which life form is the more successful.We do have at present the capability, which ants do not, of enhancing our ability to survive through genetic engineering and the development of biologically friendly machines, and even the ability to migrate away from this earth so that our genes and ourselves are not in one basket, so to speak.Should a planet-sterilizing event hit the earth, we could be on Mars and still survive.

But then there is this insidious thought: perhaps the ants, like our resident microbes, will find a way to come with us!

Don't miss this book.You are in for a treat.

amazing
There is few to say that has not been said. It is very well written and the information is mind-boggling.

Wonderful!
I loved this book. After reading it I spent the next night telling my wife all I'd managed to remember.

Networks to Socialism, Love and Learn from the Ants
As many have said in the reviews and hard to top, this is a book that the whole family can enjoy as it includes instructions at the end on starting an Ant farm. I would however advise just one point for the kids and that is if the smaller kids are reading it by themselves and that is just tell them to skip over the big technical words and they will get just as much a kick out of it as I did. They can learn the technical words as they progress. But WOW ! , what a great book and the vast implications to so many areas from human society to our entire planet as a whole.

I was mostly interested in myrmecology to learn more about network systems and their benefits and implications, but got way more. The more I read of Edward O. Wilson, the more eager and the more desire I have to read further. My only regret is that it took this long to come across both his and others work.

Of note and besides the many enlightening aspects in the book, my favorite insigt is in the first few pages, as paraphrased, "It would appear that socialism really works under some circumstances; Karl Marx just had the wrong species." If that quote interests you, then the rest of the book will too.

Fantastic and fun book for everyone from the myrmecologist to the layman...
This book is very informative and extremely entertaining, offering a review of the history and landmark findings of myrmecology by two of the field's greatest minds.While it is not nearly as exhaustive as the authors' great tome The Ants, Journey to the Ants carries a momentum that The Ants at times can lack due to its nature as a technical monograph.Part gripping narrative and part academic text, it offers something for anyone with a healthy interest in biology. ... Read more

Book Description
A renowned speaker, business consultant, record-setting speed skier and Olympian, Vince Poscente believes in the enormous potential of the unconscious mind. Poscente likens the dynamic between the conscious and subconscious minds to an ant and an elephant: "Our minds are separated into two distinct functions - the conscious and subconscious elements. Our ant is the intentional part of the brain, but our elephant is the instinctual, impulsive part of the brain that houses emotions and memories and even guides the body to perform vital functions. While we tend to know our conscious minds - our ants - rather well, we often overlook the power of our elephantine subconscious minds. When we do, unfortunately, we squander a wellspring of human potential."Having seen too many books focused on what a problem or solution is and too few focused on how to solve the problem, Poscente, with his trademark wit, wisdom and steely resolve, created The Ant and the Elephant - Leadership for the Self:A Parable and Five-Step Action Plan to Transform Workplace Performance. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Humor and learning all in one!
Absolutely love it!It's funny and has learning points.An easy read.Feels like I'm watching an animated movie.Perfectly suits the need for which I made the purchase.Would definitely recommend to others!

Vince Poscente really gets "it!"
The Aunt and The Elephent really drew me in and surprised me with it's simple leadership lessons that have a powerful impact. I highly recommend this and all of Vince Poscente's books.

kings of the wild frontier
A simple but illuminating parable that takes the reader into a childlike state of wonderment that leads to learning some valuable lessons about creating and reaching worthwhile goals. Like Kandee G, Bud Bilanich, Laura Lewis, and Tony Beshara, this guy has a knack, in the realm of motivational books, for sensitizing the reader's mind before inserting real humor and practical advice that works.

One may be disarmed by the fantasy orientation of this book and its ability to stay out of "scenes from the boardroom." I found it refreshing and edifying. Open Your Mind!

Improving Yourself and Your Leadership Skills
Author Vince Poscente's book is an interesting concept that works to bring the conscious (that of the ant) and subconscious (that of the elephant) minds together. This book is relatable in that it utilizes familiar accounts to help you discover your inner fears and redirect your efforts toward a more positive and worthwhile outlook. Because this book is in the form of a parable story, it is easy to follow as it does not contain a large amount of business jargon.

A Parable for Future Leaders
This book is a five-step approach to leadership and improvement within both the business and personal aspects of life. It is an easy and short read that opens readers' eyes to discovering their true potential and ability to perform. Using characters such as an ant and an elephant to relay the story, it teaches the reader some valuable lessons that can be put to use in many areas of one's life. ... Read more

Book Description
A different kind of book for a different kind of leader!

The Ant and the Elephant is a simple story presented in a powerful metaphor that can have an immediate impact on your life and the life of your organization.

This book is a practical guide for us on our journey of reaching our full potential.It teaches us that we must first master leadership of the self before we can expect to be an effective leader of others.

A terrific book! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

A wonderful resource for charting your destiny
Vince Poscente is an incredibly gifted speaker, and his wisdom shines through in The Ant and the Elephant.The story of Adir's journey to the oasis, and the helpful action steps and "Notes to Self" that are liberally sprinkled throughout this delightful story, can help any reader dream bigger dreams and think more clearly about how to overcome the barriers that stand between them and the realization of those dreams.I plan to highly recommend this book to the readers (all over the world) of my Spark Plug newsletter, and I highly recommend it to the readers of this review.--Joe Tye, CEO of Values Coach America

okay
I didn't get a lot out of this book. Yes, it's humor makes for easier reading. I did make me think about a few things. The parable aspect of it just wasn't all that great for me. I am more of a straight forward sort and prefer writing like that of John C. Maxwell.

ant power
A simple but illuminating parable that takes the reader into a childlike state of wonderment that leads to learning some valuable lessons about creating and reaching worthwhile goals. Like Kandee G, Bud Bilanich, Laura Lewis, and Tony Beshara, this guy has a knack, in the realm of motivational books, for sensitizing the reader's mind before inserting real humor and practical advice that works.

One may be disarmed by the fantasy orientation of this book and its ability to stay out of "scenes from the boardroom." I found it refreshing and edifying. Open Your Mind!

Powerful and rewarding
The Ant and the Elephant lays out five simple steps that set you on a journey toward a better professional life and personal life.The parable of the ant and the elephant is interesting and inspiring.This relatively short book, at only 115 pages, is packed with life lessons that will make you appreciate the every day things and lead a more gracious life.It will transform your attitude and your overall state of being.I definitely recommend it to anyone that is looking for deeper meaning and satisfaction in their life.

Elephant training is possible
The best thing I took away from this book is the idea that life actions are much more powerful and effective when they stem from beliefs that you 'have' things rather than from beliefs that you 'want' things. Reaching nirvana is all about believing you already have it.This book helped me figure out how to spend about 12 hours total over a few days in a heightened state of contented 'having'. It's only fair; the lessons do take commitment from the reader to achieve extended periods of contentedness. Mileage may vary. ;-)I know I can go back to the book and get there again; it's a pretty good roadmap. ... Read more

Book Description

Can you find an ant in the name Anthony? A black ant? A red ant? A fire ant? How about a carpenter ant? Or is the ant in Anthony not an insect at all?

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent source for writing innovations for word chunks.
I would recommend this book to all elementary school teachers. The pictures are a little less colorful, but the content is excellent. We ended up writing there's an end in Brenda and other books. Kitchen-no end insink, no end in stove, but there's an end in blender. Fast Food Place- Noend in Happy Meal at McDonalds, no end in the ice cream sundae at Dairyqueen, but there's an end in Chicken Tenders at Burger king, etc. etc. ... Read more

Product Description
From School Library JournalKindergarten-Grade 3?The poor little red ant! Of the thousand of ants that live in her anthill in a cornfield in Mexico, she is the smallest of all. So when she finds a huge crumb of delicious torta (cake), she sets off to find someone to carry it back home for her. Though she is the smallest, the little red ant is also pretty savvy. She doesn't get too close to the long-tongued lizard, or stray into the spider's web. By the time she scares a man away from the cornfield, the little red ant has figured out the moral of this Mexican version of an old fable retold by Shirley Climo and illustrated by Francisco Mora (Clarion Books, 1995): "You can do it if you think you can." Spanish words in the text are understandable in context, but a glossary is also included. Lively background music throughout enhances the tale. Reader Diego Arciniegas varies the voices so each character is distinct. This enjoyable tale has page-turn signals on one side of the cassette and narration only on the other.?Judy Czarnecki, Chippewa River District Library System, Mt. Pleasant, MI ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

The little red ant and the great big crumb
Great resource for unit on ants to teach ESL for pk-k.

the little red ant.
Once upon a time, there was a little red ant,she was the only one who was different from her family.she was more shorter than her family members,her red color was more darker than the rest of the family members.One day she was looking for food,for the winter,so she can put her food in her small house.sudenly,she found a big crumb of cake,she was surprise and wonder that she wanted to take home,but there was a problem, she was too little to carry, then she was looking for help with the rest of the animals from that place, but no one help her.But she never give up and she found a alligator,that was trying to eat her,and she scape and she said that she can carry that big crumb of cake,and she did,and she knew that no matter how small she was, you never have to give up.

Great kids book!
Nicely written and beautifully illustrated children's fable. Everything you want in a children's book. I'm giving it to my grandaughter!

A WONDERFUL BOOK!
This book is wonderful! I read it all the time.Why I give this book 5 stars is because this book is really fun to read and I think that children might like this book too.The ant talks about how he might eat it when he isjut so small. ... Read more

Book Description
Eric O'Grady has found himself in need of a little employment. It costs money to be on the run from the law. Luckily Damage Control is on the lookout for someone who can safely sift through rubble for survivors. Don't worry, though - he'll still have plenty of time to spy on the ladies like the despicable human-being that he is. Plus: Why fight super-villains when you can watch attractive ladies take their clothes off in the privacy of their own homes? Our little Irredeemable Ant-Man has got it made! That is, until he realizes that the current subject of his perverted voyeurism is none other than Carol Danvers - otherwise known as Brian Bendis' and Frank Cho's The Mighty Avengers' Ms. Marvel! Collects Irredeemable Ant-Man #7-12. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Delightfully Irredeemable
Eric O'Grady (AKA the Irredeemable Ant-Man) continues to amaze me.

His lies are remarkably masterful, and he always gets away with them, in the end. If he were to use his skills for malice, he would be an astounding super-villain, but he doesn't. He only wants to use his powers to get by in life, and that is strangely admirable. Here, he uses his talents to join Damage Control, a group that repairs the city after the Avengers decimate it. He even garners a new love interest. Later, he gets caught up in World War Hulk and hilariously tries to defeat the Green Goliath when everyone else flees New York. Concluding the book is his finally getting caught by his arch-nemesis. . .

The humor continues as well. Jokes never end with Eric befriending the gray-haired cat burglar, the Black Fox, after kicking him in the family jewels. You're reminded of the fact that Eric is completely irresponsible with the suit: superhero-ing to him is nothing but "fun and awesome," and there is no sense of duty at all. Hilarity, strangely enough, ensues. Particularly interesting is the fact that Eric in this book admits all his faults. He admits who he is, and he admits that he wants to be a better person, but can't. This is a man who is utterly trapped by his character, and that was just amazing to see.

A great book if you're looking for some laughs, a great book if you want strong characters, a great book PERIOD.

Unfortunately, this is the end of the Irredeemable Ant-Man series, but his adventures continue in Avengers: The Initiative. That's right, our lovable jerk is now a registered jerk! ... Read more

Book Description
Heres the wild and rollicking follow-up to the bestselling Trout, Trout, Trout! (A Fish Chant) that everybodys been waiting for! This time, insects take center stage, as the same dynamic team creates another winning combination of rhyming text that begs to be read (or shouted!) out loud and hilarious illustrations. This unique concept teaches kids the names of insects in an entertaining way. Plus, a four-page glossary gives details about each bug featured. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Another great chant!
We love Trout trout trout and Ant ant ant is not a disappointment.The illustrator and author make a wonderful team and I hope to see many more books come from both of them.My 4 year old loves this book!

5 year old loves this!
This along with Trout, Trout, Trout have been two favorite books around our house recently. My son is 5 and thinks this book is great. He especially loves the part about the dung beetle. The fun rhyme introduces children to a variety of insects, and the pictures are super. It's very educational and fun at the same time.

A zany set of bug drawings and facts
Ant, Ant, Ant! (An Insect Chant) receives Trip Park's fun drawings as it follows up on the popular Trout, Trout, Trout! (A Fish Chant) to provide a zany set of bug drawings and facts. Yes, insect facts are included within the zany set of insect identification - and Trip Park's large-size and unique color drawings are quite vivid, adding to the excitement of a top pick.
... Read more