Ear Worm!

October 25, 2021
When Little Worm finds a song stuck in his head—the words “shimmy shimmy, no-sashay” slither in the air above his pink, plump body—handsomely feathered Owl informs him that the name for this phenomenon is an “ear worm.” As Little Worm inquires about the tune’s source, Owl and the rest of Little Worm’s animal friends reveal that they too have insistent, internally playing tunes of their own. Each is rendered in a different mélange of typography: Owl ends his own with an emphatic “Talk to the WING,” The Bunny’s “Hip-hop, thump, jump” builds vertically, and when Fox sings “Rah-Rah, trot to me!” the words seem to march forth. In her picture book debut, Knowles’s (Where the Heart Is) high-spirited, cumulative text bops while Bernstein’s (I Am a Cat) marvelously expressive, digitally rendered characters boogie against a minimally detailed background; the abundance of unabashed, openhearted energy may remind readers of their own grooves. After a rambunctious multispecies dance party, Little Worm finally toddles off to nap with the mystery of the ear worm’s origin unsolved—until he hears his father singing as he does chores. It’s a didn’t-see-it-coming dad joke that should prompt a chortle of recognition from kids and grown-ups alike. Ages 2–5. Author’s agent: Barry Goldblatt, Barry Goldblatt Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Alex Gehringer, the Bright Agency.

November 1, 2021
A bouncy primer to a confusing colloquialism for youngsters. Little Worm has a song stuck in his head. It's a catchy tune (as all ear worms are): "shimmy, / no-sashay, // shimmy, no-sashay!" The pint-sized wiggler bops and dances all the way to Owl. "Did you put this song in my head?" he demands. Owl, however, is singing his own song (complete with TikTok-worthy dance moves): "WAVE, WAVE, / TALK TO THE WING!" Owl and Little Worm set off to find more clues as to where Little Worm's song began. They meet up with Chipmunk and Bunny, both of whom also have songs that they can't stop singing. But when the friends run into Fox, Fox's song hints at possible peril: "Rah-Rah, / Trot to me! / Rah-Rah, / Trot to me!" Luckily, the mystery is solved without any worms (or others) being gobbled. Knowles' picture-book debut, a merry cumulative tale, is sure to add pep to any storytime. The easy repetition invites listeners to join in. Bounding along with the spring of the text, Bernstein's joyful and expressive woodland creatures, amid copious white space against uncluttered backgrounds, have a rhythm all their own. They twirl and thump in grand sweeping motions. A rollicking read with a gentle bedtime closing. (Picture book. 3-6)

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November 1, 2021

PreS-Gr 2-Knowles attempts to explain what happens when people remember the words and melody of a song and sing it to themselves constantly. Throughout the book, a baby worm searches for the creature that put an ear worm in its head, meeting others with the same problem along the way. An owl, a squirrel, a chipmunk, and a rabbit all have their own ear worms. When the baby worm goes home for a nap, readers will smile to learn who is the source of the song. This one-joke tale does little to explain what an ear worm is, and the journey to understanding hints at a cumulative effect but never achieves a pace or rhythm. VERDICT The analogy of an ear worm is not explained well enough for young readers or English language learners to comprehend; the idiom of an ear worm is totally lost in the story.-Tanya Haynes, Meyer Elementary/Lamar CISD, Stafford, TX

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2021
Preschool-Grade 1 A round pink worm with even pinker cheeks, a sweet smile, and large black eyes has a stanza of a tune stuck in his head, and he's wondering where and who it came from. He wriggles around his community and asks a variety of creatures if they are responsible for planting the snippet of song, which readers soon learn is called an "ear worm." Owl, Chipmunk, Bunny, and Fox each deny responsibility, as they each have their own little ditty that doesn't match the worm's. As Little Worm surveys the neighborhood, each animal he questions joins in the search, singing their melodies as they go. At naptime, Little Worm returns home to his father, and the mystery of the earworm is soon solved. Ask listeners to create a tune for each critter's song and this title may soon become a most-requested storytime favorite. Large, charming illustrations, created digitally, depict an enthusiastically singing and dancing troupe. The typeface changes position, size, and font, adding energy to the happy tale.

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