The Ant and the Grasshopper

What this book practices

Aesop's fable in new, simple words, rich in ee, ea, ai and ay words. In this gentle telling Ant shares her food, Grasshopper thanks her with his music, and when the warm days come back he works first and plays after.

Level

Growing reader: Two to four short sentences on each page

Phonics focus

ee and ea, ai and ay, long o (oa, ow, o-e)

Themes

Fable, Animals, Kindness, Friends

After the story

A short activity checks understanding, then a prompt to tell a grown-up about the book.

Levels are PlayOwl's own design guidelines for each grade, not a certified reading level. In I'll Read, PlayOwl records that a child turned every page; it cannot hear whether the words were read.

Credit and rights

Retold by PlayOwl from Aesop's fable. Source: The Ant and the Grasshopper by Aesop.

The words are new PlayOwl writing that follows a story in the public domain. PlayOwl claims no rights in the underlying story.

Adaptation

Retold for PlayOwl in 2026 from the fable of the ant and the grasshopper. PlayOwl's telling is gentler than the old versions: the ant shares her food all winter, nobody goes hungry, and the grasshopper learns to work first and play after. Aesop's fables are ancient and have been in the public domain for many centuries. Only the events of the fable were followed. The retelling was not worked from any particular translation or edition, and no wording was copied.

Cover

Drawn in code for PlayOwl in 2026 with the Read with Olly illustration kit. Original work owned by PlayOwl.

Illustrations

Drawn in code for PlayOwl in 2026 with the Read with Olly illustration kit. The pictures do not follow the pictures of any edition. Original work owned by PlayOwl.

Narration

Spoken by the reader's own device voice. PlayOwl ships no recording. No recorded work exists.

Text

Written for PlayOwl in 2026 as a new retelling. Every sentence is new wording. Original wording owned by PlayOwl. The underlying story is covered by the adaptation record.