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Summary
Summary
#1 New York Times Bestseller!
This hilarious picture book from the bestselling, acclaimed author-illustrator team of Doreen Cronin and Harry Bliss tells the adventures of a worm through his daily diary entries.
This is the diary of a worm. This worm lives with his parents, plays with his friends, and even goes to school. But unlike you or me, he never has to take a bath, he gets to eat his homework, and because he doesn't have legs, he just can't do the hokey pokey--no matter how hard he tries.
Read the other books in the series: Diary of a Fly and Diary of a Spider!
Author Notes
Doreen Cronin was born in Queens, New york. She grew up in Merrick, Long Island. She attended Pennysylvania State University where she majored in journalism. Eventually she found herself using her journalism background in the world of publishing. and she turned her sights toward law and attended St. john's University School of Law. She went on to work as an attorney in a Manhattan Law firm. She wrote her book Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type in 1995, shortly after the death of her father. It took another five years, however, before the book was published. She stated in her bio that this book was not only her first published book but also the easiest book to write, taking her only about 20 minutes to jot down the story. The book went on to become a Caldecott Honor Book. While the book eventually met with great success, publishers rejected it repeatedly for several years until a publisher eventually called her with the news that it would be published. Her success as a children's author continued with books such as Diary of a Worm published in 2003 and winner of Parent's Choice Award Slver 2003 Picture Book, Diary of a Spider published in 2003 and Rescue Bunnies. She made the 2013 New York Times High Profiles List with her title Click, Clack, Boo!: A Tricky Treat.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Horn Book Review
(Preschool, Primary) He wears a red baseball cap, likes to tease his sister, and sometimes gets in trouble at school. Oh, and he's also a worm. Pithy diary entries (""April 4. Fishing season started today. We all dug deeper"") record the ups and downs of this worm's life at home, in the classroom, and hanging out with his pal Spider. Cronin (Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, rev. 3/00) places her protagonist in situations that every kid can relate to (""I forgot my lunch today""), then adds a humorous twist specific to worms (""I got so hungry that I ate my homework""). So when the students do the hokey pokey at a school dance, they quickly discover that, after putting your head in and taking your head out, there isn't much else a worm can do. And how does a worm insult his older sister? ""I told her that no matter how much time she spends looking in the mirror, her face will always look just like her rear end."" Bliss's whimsical cartoonish illustrations depict events from a worm's-eye view: objects above the ground -- including a shovel, a dog, and a girl playing hopscotch -- dwarf the protagonist, who uses a bottle cap for a chair and a toadstool for a desk. The endpapers, which resemble scrapbook pages containing snapshots of the worm family on vacation (at Compost Island) and a report card (our hero gets an A in tunneling and ""works well with others""), add to the fun. The book also includes the gentlest of ecological messages. Noting that tunneling worms help the earth breathe, the narrator concludes that, although people may not pay much attention to worms, ""the earth never forgets we're here."" (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 3-A down-to-earth invertebrate comments on friendship, family life, school, and his place in the universe. An amusing worm's-eye view of the world, with a tongue-in-cheek text and wry illustrations. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Cronin's beguiling journal entries by a worm who can write are as witty and original as the missives from her popular cows who can type (Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type). With his red baseball cap and good-natured humor, the titular hero is a winning American Everyboy, and young readers will identify with his escapades in part because they mirror their own. Bliss's (A Fine, Fine School) clever endpapers feature photos of the worm on his first day of school and on a family vacation to Compost Island, as well as his report card (he gets an "A" for tunnel, a "Pass" for Squirming). He makes his friend Spider "laugh so hard, he fell out of his tree," and he tells his sister that "her face will always look just like her rear end." But in addition to being like the hero, youngsters will also enjoy seeing their familiar world from a worm's vantage point. "It's not always easy being a worm," he says. One of the bad things is that a worm can't chew gum; one of the good things is that worms never get cavities (they have no teeth, he points out). At a school dance, a line of worms does the hokey pokey, putting their heads in and out and turning themselves about ("That's all we could do"). Bliss's droll watercolor illustrations are a marvel. He gives each worm an individual character with a few deft lines, and the varying perspectives and backgrounds enhance the humor of the text (especially a view from the sidewalk up, illustrating "Hopscotch is a very dangerous game," with a girl's sneakers about to descend). Inventive and laugh-out-loud funny, this worm's-eye view of the world will be a sure-fire hit. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
\f2\froman\fcharset1 TimesNewRoman; PreS-Gr. 1. The verbal puns and the wry, colorful cartoons create a funny worm's-eye view of the world in this playful picture book. There's no sustained story here, as there was in Cronin's wonderful Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (2000), but the hilarious vignettes of the worm-child with his family, friends, and enemies show the absurd in humans as much as in the wriggling creatures in the earth. When the worm forgets his lunch, he eats his homework, and he loves telling his older sister that her face will always look like her rear end. One advantage of being a worm is that he never has to go to the dentist: no cavities. "No teeth, either," says Dr. D. Kay. The pictures are both silly and affectionate, whether the worm holds a pencil or hugs his favorite pile of dirt. And there's always the elemental child appeal of how it feels to be tiny in a world of giants. --Hazel Rochman Copyright 2003 Booklist
Kirkus Review
Each turn of the page will bring fresh waves of giggles as a young worm records one misadventure after another. He tries to teach his arachnid friend how to dig a tunnel; learns the peril of hanging out on a sidewalk during a game of hopscotch; suffers a nightmare from eating too much garbage before bedtime; makes a one-piece macaroni necklace in art class; earns a parental reprimand for telling his older sister that "no matter how much time she spends looking in the mirror, her face will always look just like her rear end," and much, much more. Bliss gives this limbless young diarist a face and an identifying red cap, adds plenty of sight gags, and just to set the tone, plasters (painted) snapshots on the endpapers captioned "My favorite pile of dirt," "My report card" ("Needs to resist eating homework"), etc., etc. Readers will come away with the insight that worms may not be so good at walking upside down or doing the Hokey Pokey, but they do play an important role in taking care of the Earth. Not so different from us, after all. (Picture book. 6-9) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
