March 29, 2021
Juan Hormiga is an ant with two skills: his impressive napping and his hypnotic storytelling. In scribbly lines against lots of white space, Roldán draws the protagonist, a red ant, and his peers, black ants, as cartoonlike characters with googly eyes and large mandibles. Juan Hormiga’s stories all center his intrepid grandfather—an ant who traveled and faced great danger, “the bravest creature to ever set foot in any anthill.” Though the other ants have memorized Juan Hormiga’s grandfather’s achievements, they love to hear the tales retold. One day, though, Juan Hormiga announces his intention to strike out alone, reenacting the brave feats his grandfather tackled before him. After he departs, and it starts to rain, the ants begin to worry, building narrative tension by recounting the mythical stories: “Maybe he’s going down into the ravine, hanging from a spider’s thread. His grandfather did that.” With a funny ending, a nested telling, and a folktale’s meandering charm, this story has the same hypnotic draw as Juan Hormiga’s own. Ages 5–8.
April 1, 2021
Juan, a red denizen of a colony of busy black ants, offsets his extreme indolence by enthralling his mates with picaresque tales of his grandfather's derring-do. Capable of 10 daily naps, Juan one day surprises everyone by appearing with "a stick between his feet with a little cloth bundle full of food." He's off to trace his grandfather's paths, to "see the world" and return with "heaps of new stories to tell." As hours pass, the ants speculate on Juan's adventures, thereby imbuing him with increasing quantities of strength and bravery. A flash flood during Juan's absence prompts ever greater heights of cogitation, as the ants envisage their newly crowned hero drowned. After the flood recedes, the ants decide to memorialize Juan by planting a flower at the base of a large willow tree. En route, a passing mosquito reports that Juan is actually asleep in that very tree, high up in a knothole. Indeed, the champion napper has slept through the flood, bedding down at the first hint of heavy clouds. Juan cleverly assuages the ants' disappointment, springing down to share the bundle of food he'd packed while regaling them--yet again-- with his grandfather's escape from an eagle's talons. Charmingly ant-ic black line drawings, accented with red, green, and yellow, pop against expansive white space. Dialogue is keyed in red type, enhancing the handsome overall design. Rold�n celebrates the social currency of cracking-good storytelling--and the expediency of a well-placed nap. (Picture book. 3-7)
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Starred review from July 23, 2021
K-Gr 3-Juan, the roguish hero of this tale, is a charming ant who has only two strengths, napping and telling his grandfather's stories. In these tales, Grandpa swings from branches, kicks spiders, and parachutes using leaves from trees. The other ants listen with rapt attention. Using a limited green, red, and black color palette and a deceptively simple drawing style and font, Rold�n creates a sophisticated picaresque that elevates the act of oral storytelling to a central role in the ant community. Visual cues, such as Rold�n's use of red to distinguish Juan from his fellow ants or a switch in text color, add to the accessibility of the book. The cartoonish style and the indulgent and adoring response of the other ants to Juan's behavior signals to readers the overall tone of humor and absurdity. Although familiar in structure to a folklore or fable, the message of the story, rather than being cautionary, is about the act of sharing stories. There are no dire consequences to Juan's less than industrious lifestyle. A moral? Stories are a valuable contribution to society and that without this art form, life becomes untenable and dull. VERDICT An excellent purchase for any collection where longer, complex picture books that lead to discussion and laughter are appreciated.-Eva Thaler-Sroussi, Wellesley Free Library, MA
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