City of Leafcutter Ants: A Sustainable Society of Millions

Tunnel under the rainforest floor into the bustling metropolis of the leafcutter ants, each with a different job to do.

Leafcutter ants are masters at building and running their city. With a population to rival NYC, they employ builders, farmers, nannies, cleaners, and even pharmacists! Brave foragers venture into the trees to bring back slices of leaf to keep the fungus crops growing, while those at home expand the city’s tunnel network and tend to the young--and the queen, the city’s founder.

Whether already fascinated by bugs or just discovering them, young readers will be captivated by Amy Hevron’s colorful, inviting illustrations and accessible language. The City of Leafcutter Ants is both informative and fun, robustly researched and approachable, with backmatter for further learning. In walking us through this sprawling ant society, Hevron reminds us that as different as we may feel from a tiny six-legged insect, humans are neither the only nor the first creatures of Earth to organize ourselves into ingenious collective living.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Amy Hevron is an illustrator, designer and children’s book author. She wrote and illustrated The Longest Journey: an Arctic Tern’s Migration and Dust Bunny Wants a Friend. She also illustrated Trevor by Jim Averbeck, which received multiple starred reviews, and The Tide Pool Waits, by Candace Fleming. In both 2015 and 2016, she received the Portfolio Honor Award from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She lives in Seattle with her family.