From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 1-What child hasn't chanted some version of "The Ants Go Marching," always enjoying the delightful repetition of each numbered verse? Well, this time there are no shiny, black insects anywhere in sight-just a band of high-steppin' ladies who parade down the streets to town to the beat of a little girl's drum, as rain sprinkles, pelts, and finally pours down on their raincoats and black umbrellas. The rhyming verses from 1 to 10 are interspersed with a rhythmic rat-a-tat line that lends itself to an increase in volume and intensity until the final "boom" sends the women fleeing to get out of the thundering storm. Once safe inside, the undaunted child typically cries, "Let's do it again!" Youngsters will thoroughly enjoy the chance to practice their numbers and to learn this classic childhood song, repeating the in-between chorus line and filling in the end-of-line rhymes. While most of the rhymes work well, occasionally they are somewhat strained, for example "seven/heavens," and a typographical error in verse eight leaves out the word "one" so that the rhythm is disturbed. Still, Manning's clever, full-color spreads are sure to provoke giggles among young listeners, particularly when the rain intensifies and the ever-growing band of racially diverse women has to cope with the rising puddles. The story will surely inspire children to create their own verses and to get up and march about as they sing them.
Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, LaSalle Academy, Providence, RI
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
PreS-Gr. 1. The familiar chant that has ants marching gets a clever twist, as the title indicates. The charming cover shows a little girl in a yellow slicker beating a drum and leading a parade of aunts, umbrellas in hand. In this version the aunts march one by one, but the little aunt stops to bang her drum, then "they all go marching down to the town, in the rain, in the rain." Out from the row houses comes one aunt after another (though faster than the song is counting), and almost immediately there are a dozen or more full-figured aunties in raincoats marching down the main street, into the various shops. Like the song, this text gets a little repetitive (at least for adults), but the sassy pictures, with the drama of the rainstorm and aunts of every ethnicity, are fun to look at. The unique perspectives used in the art make this a book kids will want to look at and sing along with more than once. Ilene Cooper
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