Ant and Honey Bee: A Pair of Friends at Halloween written by Megan McDonald, illustrated by G Brian Karas, 48 pp, RL 1.5



Ant and Honey Bee:  A Pair of Friends at Halloween, written by Megan McDonald of Judy Moody, Stink and Sisters Club (all series) and illustrated by  G Brian Karas was originally released in 2005.  The cover has been revamped and and the title has been changed from Ant and Honey Bee:  What a Pair to better reflect the holiday theme of the story. G Brian Karas has illustrated over 90 picture books and I am sure that his work is familiar to most of you.  His illustrations are often cartoon-like but also painterly and his color palette is often quiet and warm, the perfect mix for a playful story.

Halloween is only a few hours away and Ant does not want to be a pilgrim for the third year in a row.  Ant is full of ideas and Honey Bee, content to be a pilgrim again, lets Ant spin her wheels. Ant decides that the two should be a pair of something.  Honey Bee, thinking Ant meant the fruit, suggests Ant be the stem.  





After sorting through several ideas, all of which are wonderfully illustrated, Ant settles on a washer and dryer and begins cutting up cardboard boxes.


Pleased with their costumes, the two friends head out into the night where their costumes are misinterpreted, despite Ant and Honey Bee's excellent skills at acting like a washer and dryer.  Finally, with  their costumes ruined after being rained on and no good candy in their sacks, the friends arrive at Cricket's house a bit down and looking very different from when they set out. 




Cricket answers the door with a huge bag of honey drops in hand, wondering what the two have dressed up as.  The two look at each other and smile.  "She's a - BEEHIVE!" answers Ant.  "And she's an ANTHILL!" answers Honey Bee.  Cricket answers, "Creative! You make a perfect pair!"


Ant and Honey Bee:  A Pair of Friends at Halloween presents readers with yet another winning set of beginning reader buddies.  As always, the different personalities balance each other out.  And, while Ant and Honey Bee do not have the friction between them that some other pairs have, they make for a great read. Although the book is in chapters, it can be read from cover to cover at story time or bed time and finished before eyelids start drooping - the reader's or the listener's!

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