The City Under the Back Steps

Meet Jill and Craig, two children who mysteriously shrink and are taken prisoner by an ant colony.



Down beneath the ground they are herded, to the city under the back steps and the complex world of the ant colony. Here where the haughty Queen rules with an iron hand, each of her subjects has a vital role to perform, and Jill and Craig are put to work. But no sooner had they become involved in the daily routine of the colony when an army of red ants sweeps down, threatening the destruction of the city and its inhabitants, including Jill and Craig!

Evelyn Sibley Lampman's exciting fantasy, sure to ignite an interest in nature, accurately explores the fascinating hierarchy of the ant world.



27 original illustrations by Honoré Valintcourt.



Evelyn Lampman bases her fantasy on a meticulous knowledge of the complex ant society and integrates it with flair and imagination, which at once marks this as a children's book of enduring value. -Kirkus Reviews