I Don’t Like to Eat Ants

As a long-time admirer of the anteater aesthetic, I was delighted to run across this gem by Jeff, Tommy, and Katie Bell. It’s rhyme is steady and natural to read aloud, a characteristic I’ve appreciated since childhood. The unwillingness to try new things, especially foods, has proven to be a problem for the ages. Hopefully the book’s relevance will make it a classic.

Sabine Mielke’s illustrations are vivid, charming, and humorous. The ants are carrying on their own story right under the noses of the anteaters. I’d recommend this book to people who like anteaters, to people who eat food, as well as to the parents or caretakers of picky eaters. This is one I’ll be adding to my bookshelf.


Thanks to Smith Publicity, Picklefish Press, and NetGalley for the provided e-ARC and the opportunity to read this book. My review is honest, unbiased, and voluntary. #NetGalley #IDontLikeToEatAnts

If you need a perspectives piece that will win your class over, look no further this is it!

Two anteaters discuss food preferences back and forth through rhymes. Goofy and fun, while modeling having different perspectives.

I actually enjoyed the higher level questioning that’s available in this one, too in case you use this with an older crew or have kids you can push to that level. Can you still be an ANTeater if you don’t like ants? What does a name mean? A label? How do we use them/ fit into them? etc.

I love the two little ants talking below them (kids will LOVE... and shout out!) about this feature.

For originality, I have to say I haven’t read one quite like this and for that in the picture book world it also deserves some props.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars for me, but potentially 5 stars depending on use with students and how hilarious they find this (I think they really might find it funny) / the ways I could finagle how to use this in the classroom! I’ll have to come back to this to know for sure.

A cute, funny story for little children. First of all, I absolutely adored the illustration. Secondly, the rhyming on the book is a clever way to recount the peculiar but remarkable debate of two anteaters, about whether the ants should be the only food that an anteater can consume. The story itself is a great and smart way of giving food for thought to little kids, without being didactic in a strict manner: Trying new things can be fun and eventually pleasant enough, as long as you are willing to give it a chance.