Ant Plays Bear

by Betsy Byars, Marc Simont

Overview

In this delightful follow-up to My Brother, Ant, Anthony comes face to face with a growling bear, pretends to be a dog, and hears a giant tapping on the window. These enchanting stories capture the relationship between Ant and his brother with warmth and humor.

"In the tradition of the award-winning easy readers by Sendak, Lobel, and others, Byars and Simont continue to make simplicity a delight." --Booklist, starred review

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780780793323
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/28/1999
Series:	Ant Series
Pages:	31
Product dimensions:	5.75(w) x 8.75(h) x 0.25(d)
Age Range:	6 - 8 Years

About the Author

Betsy Byars began her writing career rather late in life. "In all of my school years, . . . not one single teacher ever said to me, 'Perhaps you should consider becoming a writer,'" Byars recalls. "Anyway, I didn't want to be a writer. Writing seemed boring. You sat in a room all day by yourself and typed. If I was going to be a writer at all, I was going to be a foreign correspondent like Claudette Colbert in Arise My Love. I would wear smashing hats, wisecrack with the guys, and have a byline known round the world. My father wanted me to be a mathematician." So Byars set out to become mathematician, but when she couldn't grasp calculus in college, she turned to English. Even then, writing was not on her immediate horizon.

First, she married and started a family. The writing career didn't emerge until she was 28, a mother of two children, and living in a small place she called the barracks apartment, in Urbana, Illinois. She and her husband, Ed, had moved there in 1956 so he could attend graduate school at the University of Illinois. She was bored, had no friends, and so turned to writing to fill her time. Byars started writing articles for The Saturday Evening Post, Look,and other magazines. As her family grew and her children started to read, she began to write books for young people and, fortunately for her readers, discovered that there was more to being a writer than sitting in front of a typewriter.

"Making up stories and characters is so interesting that I'm never bored. Each book has been a different writing experience. It takes me about a year to write a book, but I spend another year thinking about it, polishing it, and making improvements. I always put something of myself intomy books — something that happened to me. Once a wanderer came by my house and showed me how to brush my teeth with a cherry twig; that went in The House of Wingscopyright © 2000 by Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 1-2Children who enjoyed My Brother Ant (Viking, 1996) will welcome the return of these two likable siblings. The tender, easy-to-read stories double as touching vignettes about the nuances of older/younger brother relationships. While Ant is sometimes a pest, his big brother always indulges him. When Ant wants to play bear, he becomes frightened by the older boy's realistic growls, until he is assured that the noises are not really coming from an animal. Ant is bothered by a noise at the window until he is shown that it is only the tapping of a tree. In the final story, the siblings discover that they are going to be the exact same thing when they grow upmen! Beginning readers will appreciate the subtleties underneath the simplicity of the stories. Simont's understated illustrations are perfect companions to Byars's text; they reinforce the action and hint at the underlying affection between the two boys despite Ant's sometimes trying antics. A deserving purchase.Christy Norris, Valley Cottage Library, NY

School Library Journal

An enchanting companion to My Brother Ant (1996). Little brother Anthony, known as Ant, wants his big brother—the narrator—to be a bear. The narrator plays the part so well that Ant becomes a little worried, and decides to end the game. In the second story, Ant wants to be a dog when his brother's new friend comes to visit, but becomes a boy when he finds out that the friend is capable of playing mean tricks on dogs. Third, Ant wants an explanation for the tap-tap-tapping on the bedroom window. Best of all, though, is the last story, in which Ant discovers what he wants to be when he grows up. In very short chapters, the love and exasperation common between siblings and the sweet thrill of everyday life are laid out for beginning readers who are sure to be delighted. The language is perfectly transparent, plain but full of feeling, and the illustrations, for all their artful simplicity, glow with universal appeal. Byars and Simont prove that within the closest of strictures—the easy-to-read format—brilliance can be achieved.

Kirkus Reviews