We are invited to try on the size of an ant - electric sockets loom overhead, a spoon is as big as an elevator. A simple kitchen becomes a perilous obstacle course. As we follow the ants on their journey to the pot of delicious crystals, the ordinary becomes extraordinary and powerful. In this book perhaps more than other Van Allsburg’s stories we observe the world from unusual angles and perspectives. The spare illustrations in Two Bad Ants - drawn with pen and ink over a base of casein, paint that is not water soluble - differ perceptibly from Van Allsburg’s other drawings but are equally expressive. Lugging the crystals back home, they are glad to be doing the right thing and returning to their family. They manage one narrow escape after another until finally they decide to choose one last crystal each and leave this strange and frightening place. When morning comes, the ants are violently awoken by a large scoop lifting them out of the crystal jar and dropping them into a hot brown liquid. The two ants have decided to tarry and eat crystals to their hearts’ content. Hurrying home, they fail to notice that two small ants have stayed behind.

In the perilous and confounding world of the human kitchen, the ants find the bowl of delicious crystals.

Following the scout, the ants travel through the “forest” to the “mountain” they must climb in order to reach the treasure they seek. That evening the other ants, wishing to make the queen happy, set off on a journey to fetch home as many of these crystals as they can carry. When an ant scout returns home with a mysterious crystal, the queen ant decides it is the most delicious food she has ever tasted.

Two bad ants by chris van allsburg