About this item
Science-obsessed fourth grader Nora has ants all figured out - now she just has to try to understand her fellow humans! The trouble with ants is . . . . . . people think they're boring. . . . they are not cuddly. . . . who would ever want them for a pet? Nora Alpers is using her new notebook to record the behavior of ants. Why? Because they are fascinating! Unfortunately, no one agrees with her. Her mom is not happy about them being in the house, and when Nora brings her ant farm to school for show and tell, her classmates are not very impressed. They are more interested in cat videos, basketball practice, or trying to set a Guinness World Record (although Nora wouldn't mind that) . Mostly they are distracted by the assignment their teacher Coach Joe has given them - to write a persuasive speech and change people's minds about something.
About the Author
Claudia Mills is the author of almost 60 books for young readers. To write her books she draws on childhood memories of growing up in New Jersey as well as funny stories her two sons brought home from elementary school and middle school as they grew up in Colorado. She loves to visit schools, where she is always on the prowl for material that can make its way into a chapter book or middle grade novel.Claudia had a second career as a professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado at Boulder, specializing in ethics and political philosophy, which she left a few years ago to devote herself full time to writing. In addition to her books for children, she has published many articles on philosophical and ethical themes in children's literature, including essays on the work of Maud Hart Lovelace, Eleanor Estes, Betty MacDonald, Louisa May Alcott, and Rosamond du Jardin, and published an edited collection, Ethics and Children's Literature, as well. All of Claudia's books have been written between 5 and 7 in the morning, while drinking Swiss Miss hot chocolate at her cozy home near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. She likes to write for an hour every day, watching little bits of daily writing grow into big piles of published books to share with children everywhere.
