Ant and Bee

The Ant and Bee stories are a series of small-format hardback books written by Angela Banner (pseudonym of Angela Mary Maddison, born May 14, 1923, died May 30, 2014). She began writing the books in order to teach her son how to read.

The first volume was published in the United Kingdom in 1950 and the last in 1972 by Edmund Ward Limited, later Kaye & Ward. At least some volumes were published in the United States by Franklin Watts Inc. The books were reprinted by Trafalgar Square Publishing in the late 1980s and early 1990s. New editions of certain volumes were published in 2013 by Egmont UK Limited.

Angela Banner wrote all the books in the series and also illustrated the last four. Earlier volumes were illustrated by Bryan Ward, but the 2013 editions of these volumes feature illustrations by the author. Simple three- and four-letter words occur repeatedly and are printed in red type for children to read out while a parent reads the rest. The books also teach children about the alphabet, numbers, shapes, colours, countries of the world and calendar and clock reading. Each so-called alphabetical story emphasizes words beginning with consecutive letters of the alphabet, e.g., arrow, bread, chair and so on.

The principal characters are the good friends Ant (the naughtier and more adventurous half of the duo) and Bee (fussier and more sensible). Other regular characters are Kind Dog and his master, the Zoo Man.