Hilarious, and so bright it almost hurts your eyes, this is a humorous story about drawing and counting. And worms, of course.

*

Re-read January 2020 ( )

This raucous and ridiculous book joins other silly read-alouds, like the ever-popular Book with no pictures for a fun, silly adventure. The opening page, in eye-searing neon pink, explains that this is a book about worms. Because the creator can only draw worms. The story progresses from there, trying to count the worms, but they're, well, worms. He loses his pen and has to draw different colors, imagines wonderful adventures that he... can't draw, and finally illustrates a horrible accident when a worm... gets cut in half. Finally, the last page shows a full spread of all ten worms, plus worm eight and eight-and-a-half (cutting a worm in half does NOT give you two worms).

The neon pink and yellow worms, striped with bold black, stretch out against sharp white and black pages with a few yellow and pink pages thrown in. It's a simple story, but one that older children, who can pick up on the subtle humor, will demand to hear again and again. Pair with creative, drawing, or silly books for a ridiculous storytime.

Verdict: An additional purchase, but a fun one! I've been reading this to all my pre-summer field trips and it's a hit!

ISBN: 9781524788223; Published March 2019 by Penguin Workshop; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library

A fun and witty counting book for children that made me laugh several times. ( )