John Nickle both wrote and illustrated the book that inspired the movie, and while I wasn't expecting much I found it to be a really good read filled with wonderful artwork. I didn't think there'd be much else to it besides a boy being shrunk, learning his lesson, and being made large again, but there's actually more than that which lent itself to the final concept of the film.

I am going to gloss over the story from beginning to end now, so spoilers ahead, if that sort of thing bothers you!

Lucas, who wears "funny glasses and a strange hat" is constantly bullied for being "weird" - especially by one big kid called Sid. So Lucas takes out his frustrations on the ants, by spraying them with his water gun. Annoyed, they swarm over him and stuff him, fullsized, underground. The Queen scolds him, reminding him how long it takes for her people to build what he's been destroying with such carelessness, and the Ant Wizard shrinks him. Brought before judge and jury, Lucas is sentanced to work, gather food, stave off predators, and assist the drones in attending to the Queen.

Pleased with his progress the Queen calls Lucas and proposes a final test: to go back to his house and gather one red Swell Jell - a candy that looks rather like a gumdrop (by the way, according to the illustration here, the ants have television). Lucas responds that he cannot do it alone, so the Queen sends two ants called Speedy and Rene with him.

Outside the team waits for night to fall. The two ants asks Lucas what it was like to be a giant, and Lucas tells them about how there were others bigger than even him, including Sid, who tormented him. The ants point out that he tormented them in much the same way, and Lucas has no reply. Once its safely dark, the group ventures into the house and finds the candy. But suddenly Lucas' father appears with a flyswatter and prepares to strike. To save his friends, Lucas jumps right onto his father's glasses, and Speedy and Rene escape.

Later at the colony, the Queen weeps because while Speedy and Rene have returned, Lucas has not. But then he arrives, and the Queen is so pleased she has the Ant Wizard give Lucas the antidote. He wakes on the lawn outside next morning to see Sid the Bully right in front of him...shrunk down to ant size.

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