[alert variation=”alert-info”]Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Formats: Hardcover
Purchase: Powell’s | Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | iBooks[/alert]

A mysterious sound – “Boom! Rumble, rumble” – alarms the five carpenter ants living inside an old tree stump. What could it be? As one curious ant (in a yellow construction hat) drills a hole, or a window, to see what exactly is going on, three others (in blue hats) make their declarations: “Goodness,” “Gracious,” and, “Yikes!” It’s the last, scaredy-cat carpenter ant (in a bright red hat) who imagines outrageous images outside the stump. Young readers will like peering through the first drilled hole to see the same orange color that the ants see. The red-hatted ant feels sure it’s an orange aardvark there to eat them up. Then, through the next window they see “blue like the ocean;” the orange aardvark must be wearing blue pajamas! In this way, colors are progressively revealed and interpreted as crazy threats by the one nervous ant. When all the colors are revealed, the ants exit the stump to see what actually lies outside – well, all but one little ant in a bright red hat. Hall makes every word count in this spirited story. Book design and layout are clever with bright colors and randomly spaced windows to engage young readers.

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