Copyright Alice Horwill (2014)

The right of Alice Horwill to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with
section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publishers. Photocopying and reproduction is permitted for classroom
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prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781784551148
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2014)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd.
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LB

AUST N MACAULEY
P

D.

This book is dedicated to my beautiful daughter, Kerrie and three

adorable grandsons, Joshua, Nathan and Nicholas, who have
given me inspiration and encouragement with their support and
positive critiques.

Arnold Ant lives with his family, called a colony. They live in a
nest underground. Arnold is not very old, but his life is short and
he feels that his time is running out. He has worked very hard all
his life and now feels very tired.
Arnold is a drone, that is a male ant, and his special friend is
Queenie, the queen ant. It is Queenies job to lay eggs, that
ensures that the colony continues to grow.

Arnold loves to tell bedtime stories to all the little ants, and even
the pupae tune in, (thats what ants are called after the larvae
stage and before turning into ants) The little ants adore Arnold.
He is so kind and gentle.

Story time calls Arnold, and all the little ants hurry and scurry
to crowd around him, each trying to sit on one of his knees.
Careful,does it, whispers Arnold. Listen carefully and Ill tell you
about our family.
You may have noticed that everyone is always busily working
around here, thats what an ants life is like and we are happy.

Arnold explains that all the female ants, that is, the girls and
ladies are worker ants, each with their own special job. Some are
cleaners, so they make sure that the nest is always clean and
tidy. They remove all rubbish and dead insects from the nest and
take it outside to a special rubbish dump.
I hope I dont get that job! wails wondering Winnie. Queenie
decides which jobs we will do as she knows the jobs that will suit
us best, informs Arnold. She is a smart queen, answers anxious
Agnes.