How to Walk an Ant by Cindy Derby (review)

Amariyah is an “Expert Walker,” her specialty is ants, and she’s kind enough to share her expertise in her “very own nine-step guide.” The steps range from “Politely Introduce Yourself” to “Prepare the Leash” to “Make a Goal” (in this case, walking to an ice cream truck) to the daunting Step Eight: “When you encounter a colony of ants repeat steps two through seven three thousand and twenty-eight times.” Then Amariyah’s many, many leashes get tangled up with the leashes of another girl out walking ladybugs, and after disentangling (and mourning the casualties—an appendix offers a guide to ant funerals) the girls bond over ice cream. The confident guide format is funny, and the contrast of our heroine’s assured manner with the fanciful details and chaotic outcome ramps up the comedy. It’s the art that kicks this through the goalposts, though; 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. Kids who’ve had enough of picture-book bunnies will welcome the originality here, and ant lovers who can get past the fatalities will appreciate the ant information scattered throughout and in a second appendix.