Barbara Ann Porte, illustrated by Annie Cannon,
Ma Jiang and the Orange Ants.
Orchard Books, 2000.

Ma Jiang And The Orange Ants is a well-told and finely illustrated tale set in ancient China about the Ma family which sells special ants that eat the insects that prey on orange crops. The male members of the family climb tall trees and wild bamboo in order to catch the "orange ants." The mother, with her young daughter and baby, then take the ants to the nearby market to sell. One day, this economic balance of gender forces is disrupted by the emperor’s need to build his army. All of the males, father and sons, are sent to war. The dilemma on how to survive without the climbing male members of the family is solved by Jiang, the young daughter, who discovers an ingenious method of capturing the orange ants.

The author, Barbara Ann Porte, artfully combines history and fiction in a tender and appealing story of this Chinese family. An appended note to the reader documents the background of citrus ants, on which this attention-holding story is based.

C.K.Rekdal