The Grasshopper and the Ants by Jerry Pinkney

Author: Jerry Pinkney

Illustrator: Jerry Pinkney

Genre: Traditional Literature

Awards: New York Public Library's 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing (2015), ALA Notable Children's Book (2016), Bank Street CBC Best Children's Book of the Year (2016)

Grade(s): K-3rd

Summary: This book was written and illustrated by a Laura Ingalls Wilder Award winner of 2016. It is a classic from Aesop's fables with the moral being, "Don't put off for tomorrow what you can do today!" Jerry Pinkney beautifully illustrates this classic that tells the story of a grasshopper who wants to play and enjoy each day as it comes. The ants, on the other hand, feel that it is important to work and continue to keep on top of their work. The grasshopper continuously tries to convince them otherwise to do things like fish with him in the spring and make snow angels and snow hoppers in the winter. The ants insist on working knowing it will pay off in the end. In the end of the book, Pinkney shows how generous the ants become by allowing the grasshopper live off of all of their hard word, but the grasshopper realizes that he should not have put off his work and he should have gotten it done. 

My Thoughts: First of all, I absolutely love Jerry Pinkney's works and will definitely have them in my classroom. I feel that he is able to illustrate in great detail to bring any story to life. This story will be used in my classroom to teach my students of this valuable lesson of not procrastinating. I love the version of this book because I feel that it is one of the best representations of this story and its moral. You will definitely find this book on my bookshelf!!