The Little Red Ant and the Great Big Crumb

Climo, S. (1995). The Little Red Ant and the Great Big Crumb. Illustrated by: Franscisco Mora. New York, NY: Clarion Books.

Brief Annotation: The Little Red Ant was smaller than his 999 cousins she lived with. One day while collecting corn, she found a piece of cake, but was too small to pick it up on her own. She attempted to get help from a lizard, the sun, a spider, a chicken, a coyote, and even a man. She realized all of them were scared of one another, but she was not, and therefore was the strongest of them all! She carried that cake to the anthill by herself and ate it all winter and by the spring she was as big as everyone else.

Genre: Fable

Grade Level: Pre-K to Grade 3

Readers who will like this: Students that like the underdog in a story will enjoy this book.

Response/Rating (1-4): I would rate this book a 4. The Little Red Ant shows how with a bit of hard work and inner strength you can achieve things you did not think you could.

One question you would ask before a read aloud: Can you think of a time when you thought you were too small to do something other people were able to do?

Reading Strategies Connection: Interactive Read-Aloud (Tompkins pg. 50). The focus of an interactive read-aloud is comprehension, which is enhanced because the teacher engages the reading process before, during, and after the book. The teacher picks a book appropriate for their students and also fits into the classroom instruction. Before the reading to the class, the teacher should be sure all students can read the book fluently, and determine where to engage the students during the book. Writing prompts on sticky notes will be good aids for the teacher. When together as a group, the teacher can introduce the book drawing out prior knowledge, provide as he purpose for listening, and then preview the text. It is now time to read the book. While reading, the teacher should model fluent and expressive reading, and stop periodically to ask the questions on the sticky notes and focus on key points of the book. After the reading, the teacher can involve the students in a discussion about the book or have response type activities ready continue this interactive process.