This is a book of manners and math. Somehow the ants always have the best manners in the animal kingdom. In this story, the lion hosts a dinner party. The ant seems to be the only guest with good manners. A cake is passed down the table for dessert, biggest animal to smallest. Each takes half before passing it on. When it gets to the ant, it crumbles, and there is nothing left for the lion. So the ant volunteers to make a cake for the lion the next day. Not to be outdone, each animal in turn doubles the amount they will bake.

I enjoyed the weighty feel of this fable. It is a manners book without beating you over the head with it. The author put some effort into giving the animals personalities. They each behave a little differently. The wording is different for each, and they each propose a different cake. I like the way the page itself is cut as the cake is. The illustrations are perfect for the story, into which the author obviously put much thought.

related-behavior, manners, etiquette, dinners and dining, ants, lions, jungle animals, math, doubling, halving
RL=K-2nd, read aloud to toddlers-1st