HOW TO WALK AN ANT
Written and Illustrated by Cindy Derby
Roaring Brook Press (Macmillan)
There are 9 steps to becoming an ant walker, and Amariyah, the expert ant-walker, is here to show you how it's done. This irreverent and quirky picture book follows a young girl as she goes through the process of walking ants, from polite introductions to tragic leash entanglements. In the end, this unique book shows that as long as you're doing what you're best at, you may find a like-minded friend to tag along.
●︎ Listed as one of The Most Astonishingly Unconventional Children’s Books of 2019 —Travis Jonker, 100 Scope Notes
●︎Featured as School Library Journal's Top Funny Picture Books of 2019
Check out my process in Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
“Come for the wonderfully offbeat premise. Stay for the oddball humor within...there is something about Cindy Derby’s brain and the way she tells her stories that make me happy she’s making picture books. Rather, it’s many things…Derby is an author who doesn’t get in her own way. She lets character take the wheel here, and it is gratifying every (ant) step of the way.”
“Derby, making a highly original debut, offers sly comic timing and deadpan prose that feel right at home with her scratchily inked, goth-vibed art style.”
“It’s dark. I like it. ”
“Derby’s watercolors, in a limited palette where black and gray predominate, have the fierce childlike disorder of Neal Layton with a touch of Stephen Gammell in the squirrely lines. Soft gray washes background wild-haired Amariyah, the precisely inked ants, and the trickly, hand-lettered-style text and speech emanata. The result is both edgy and cute, reveling in and amplifying the story’s enjoyable weirdness.”
“Be prepared for leash requests—so convincing is this guidebook. Teachers may also appreciate it as a humorous model when explaining elements of informational text.”
“How to Walk an Ant isn’t merely silly...it goes much further: It’s absurd.”
