I Have Ants in My Pants

Control your wiggles and be the BOSS of your ants.

In I Have Ants in My Pants, Julia Cook helps normalize the feeling many kids have when they struggle to control their wiggles and provides strategies for improving impulse control.

Some children just can’t sit still no matter how hard they try. And Louis is no exception. He accidentally kicks his friend during story time. He can’t stand still in the lunch line. And he wiggles in his seat at the movie theater.

Everyone keeps telling him he has ants in his pants, but Louis doesn’t see any ants! Louis’ mom explains that this means he wiggles a lot, and she teaches him a special tool, the Wiggle Dance.

Wiggle and jiggle.
Jump up and down.
Shake your hands
and turn around.

Take a deep breath.
Scrunch up your nose.
Wobble your knees
and wiggle your toes.

With a little practice and a few helpful tools, Louis learns that he can calm his wiggles and become the boss of the ants in his pants!

Author Biography

Julia Cook, M.S. is a national award-winning children’s author, counselor, and parenting expert. She has presented in thousands of schools nationally and internationally, regularly speaks at education and counseling conferences, and has published children’s books on a wide range of character and social development topics. The goal behind Cook’s work is to actively involve young people in fun, memorable stories and teach them to become lifelong problem solvers. Inspiration for her books comes from working with children and carefully listening to counselors, parents, and teachers, in order to stay on top of needs in the classroom and at home. Cook has the innate ability to enter the worldview of a child through storybooks, giving children both the “what to say” and the “how to say it.”

Carrie Hartman is an award-winning illustrator who’s work includes: editorial, children’s books and book illustration, character development, advertising, posters, greeting cards, comic books, stationary, and animation projects. She is a graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art & Design, where she is currently a member of the design faculty teaching illustration.