I Saw an Ant on the Railroad Track

May 22, 2006
Can a brawny railroad switchman named Jack do his job in time to save an oblivious ant that's traveling "eastbound... on a westbound track" from getting smacked by a freight train? Even very young readers will initially wonder why conscientious Jack doesn't simply pick up the ant and move him to safety, but Prince's debut book offers enough diversions that most youngsters should be willing to suspend disbelief and embrace the tall-tale spirit of the story. The comic drama escalates as Jack discovers, "The switch was stuck!/ Oh, ruin to wrack!/ Those cold steel wheels/ would soon attack/ that wrong-way ant on the way-wrong track/ just out a-searching for a snack!" But the ant's stomach turns out to be its salvation: spotting Jack's sandwich, it leaps from the track just in time to avoid the train—and enjoy a genial picnic with Jack. Pamintuan's slick pictures emit an almost palpable muscularity and tongue-in-cheek sense of sweeping horizon; the illustrator seems to be simultaneously channeling a bit of the spirit of Grant Wood and A Bug's Life
. Prince sets himself quite a challenge by making the "ack" sound predominate in the rhymes, but the sound fits both the premise and heart of the story. The percussive, theatrical text and larger-than-life pictures result in a made-to-order read-aloud. Ages 2-5.

July 1, 2006
PreS-Gr 1 -When Switchman Jack sees a black ant strolling down the railroad track in search of a snack, he tries to reroute a 10-ton freight train. However, the switch is stuck, and, just when readers start to worry that there will be an ant-astrophe, the tale takes a turn: -that ant.../made a beeline for my brown lunch sack/as the train whooshed by, screaming.../CLICKETY-CLACK! - The story builds effectively to a screeching crescendo, but some of the vocabulary, such as -ruin to wrack, - might stump children. The big, bold color caricatures have a timeless feel, in keeping with the text. Pamintuan uses changing perspectives to draw readers into the plight of the ant as it is confronted by the enormous smoking train. When the ambling insect spies Jack -s sandwich on the ground, it gets a determined look in its eye. The folksy rhyme would be most effective as a read-aloud; in the hands of a talented storyteller, the conflict could take on enormous proportions." -Susan E. Murray, Glendale Public Library, AZ"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2006
PreS-Gr. 1. "Well, I saw an ant on the railroad track. / The rail was bright. / The ant was black. / He was walking along, tickety-tack." Speaking this sprightly rhyme is Switchman Jack, whose job it is to make sure that trains don't collide. But when he spots a tiny ant on the track, it is his job is to make sure "an eastbound ant" doesn't run into a "westbound train." There are also a few breath-holding moments as the ant keeps up his steady march toward the train. Then the switch gets stuck! But the ant is smarter than it looks and veers off the track--all the better to share lunch with Jack. Prince's text is rhythmically perfect, and it will be lots of fun to read aloud. Pamintuan's computer-enhanced artwork makes use of all sorts of interesting perspectives, some from the tiny ant's view, and some from tall Jack's. It's a bit disconcerting that Jack is appealingly drawn in a brawny, realistic manner, whereas the ant is more of a cartoon, but kids will have fun with this, and so will their parents.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)