Hey, Little Ant

Take Turns Sharing Legos

Kirsten Cappy, Curious City — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:32:56 +0000

If all the world thought as deeply about sharing as Mrs. Nichol’s class did, the planet would be a more equitable place. Listen to the other advise they composed together after reading Hey, Little Ant:

-At a play date, let the brother or sister play too.

-In Library, if two people want the same book be kind and let the other person have it.

-At home when you are watching T.V., look for a show that everyone will like.

-At hockey, if you want to be goalie let your friend go first.

The Ant is quite pleased that you would let him be hockey goalie first, put he is a little worried about the size of that puck. Speaking of squishing…

Free “Hey, Little Ant” Song?!?

Kirsten Cappy, Curious City — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 02:37:26 +0000

Hey, Little Ant began as a song written by Phillip and Hannah Hoose in 1992 and has been sung by various performers all over the world.

As a thank you to all the educators and readers that have sung along, the original recording featuring Phillip and Hannah Hoose is now available as a free MP3 download!

Right click your mouse here and select “Save Link As” to capture the MP3.

(Kid:) Hey, little ant, down in that crack
Can you see me? Can you talk back?
See my shoe, can you see that?
Well, now it’s gonna squish you flat!

The Examined Life, Age 8

Kirsten Cappy, Curious City — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:41:06 +0000

Bryce Vickmark for The New York Times

There was a wonderful piece in the New York Times on Prof. Thomas E. Wartenberg teaching of philosophy to children through children’s books. You can read the full article, “Examined Life, Age 8″ here.

“The world is a puzzling place and when you’re young it doesn’t make sense,” Professor Wartenberg says. “What you’re giving them is the sort of skills to learn how to think about these things.”

We thank Prof. Thomas E. Wartenberg for using Hey, Little Ant in his fine curriculum alongside such great books as The Giving Tree, Morris the Moose, and Frog and Toad Together.

Ant, The Philosopher

Kirsten Cappy, Curious City — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 19:35:38 +0000

Since the boy is more powerful than the ant, does that mean it’s okay for him to squish the ant? Can you think of anyone you are more powerful than? Does that mean its okay for you to hurt them?

These are just some of the questions posed by Lauren Flinner at Teaching Children Philosophy. The site helps you use Hey, Little Ant in a thoughtful conversation with children about the complexities of our feelings towards animals, peer pressure, power, responsibility, respect, and reasoning.

Does the book answer any of these questions? Nope. We hope, only, that the book is a conversation starter or a path to pondering.

Thanks Lauren Flinner for this fabulous tool.

Hey, Little Ant off to South Africa

Kirsten Cappy, Curious City — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 21:19:51 +0000

We just shipped off a package of Hey, Little Ant books and the very last CD in stock to Jennifer Lewkowski, an Occupational Therapist in South Africa. Jennifer works with individuals ages 3-50 who have issues managing gravity, touch, visual and auditory input, organisation, sequence, and motor planning.

Jennifer has read Hey, Little Ant to her patients, ever since hearing Special Olympics Athlete Loretta Claiborne talk about the book at The South African Association of Learning Disabilities. Loretta Claiborne is an incredible athlete who is a member of the Women in Sports Hall of Fame and the Special Olympics International Hall of Fame.

A book that began with ants in a driveway in Portland, Maine, sure seems to have made its way around the globe. Thank you Jennifer, thank you Loretta. We are honored that Hey, Little Ant speaks to you.

I Speak for the Trees

Kirsten Cappy, Curious City — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 20:38:17 +0000

Dawn Armstrong of the Lake Tahoe Humane Society and SPCA put together an ‘animal story starter,’ a list of children’s books that “nurture compassion, responsibility and respect.” Hey, Little Ant is honored to be on the list with so many other important books.

Where would any of us be, for example, without Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax? In honor of Dawn’s fine work, let us greet the New Year with two favorite quotes from The Lorax.

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not. –Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues. –Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

Tis the Season for Reading, Indeed!

Kirsten Cappy, Curious City — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 20:28:25 +0000

We thank ReadBoston for naming Hey, Little Ant a ‘Top 10 Must Read’ on the In the Know: Boston’s Early Childhood Blog.

ReadBoston is a non-profit children’s literacy program that is driven by a mission to have children in Boston reading on grade level by the time they complete third grade. We thank them for their fine work.

Ant’s Commencement Address

Kirsten Cappy, Curious City — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:31:09 +0000

Watch author Phillip Hoose’s commencement address at the University of Southern Maine in May, 2010. Hoose’s speech highlights what he learned about life from his creation with his daughter Hannah of the song and book Hey, Little Ant.

Ant as Mitzvah

Kirsten Cappy, Curious City — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:30:39 +0000

We thank Morah Basha from Chabad Early Learning Center (CELM) in NYC for sharing Hey, Little Ant with her students. Ms. Basha notes on CELM’s blog that the book “was a great opportunity to learn about the Mitzvah of ‘Tza’ar Ba’alei Chayim,’ not to give pain to the living creatures Hashem created.”

We say “Shabbat Shalom!” (a few days early) to the readers at CELM!

Syracuse Cultural Workers

Kirsten Cappy, Curious City — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:03:00 +0000

Hannah and Phillip Hoose thank the Syracuse Cultural Workers for being long supporters of Hey, Little Ant and Phillip Hoose’s other books. They were the first catalog to put the book in their collection and it has been on their pages ever since.