Ant and Grasshopper

Gray and Ferri inject this Aesop's fable with a welcome dose of compassion, along with the acknowledgement that all work and no play makes Ant a dull... ant. Ferri's (The Magic Book) light-infused watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations hint at the dispositions of the two players: Ant wears a visor and pince-nez as he scowls and covers his ears to block out Grasshopper's music; the fiddler sports a jaunty cap and dances as he plays. The curmudgeon's gradual warming to Grasshopper's music is cleverly depicted: Ant's pen insists on "making swans out of the twos and fat snowmen out of the eights" in his ledger, while he struggles to concentrate on his accounting. When fall arrives, Ant chastises Grasshopper for his lack of preparations, but he later rescues the frozen Grasshopper, and each expresses appreciation for the other's talents. Gray (the Falcon's Egg trilogy) narrative makes some unusual segues%E2%80%94Ant has a stage fright%E2%80%93themed nightmare, and the book ends with the two singing a nonsense version of a Christmas carol ("Here we come a waffle-ing/ With syrup and with jam"), giving this warmhearted adaptation a wobbly conclusion. Ages 4-%E2%80%937. (Mar.)