Wonderful Worms by Linda Glaser

Genre: nonfiction

Publishing info: The Millbrook Press, 28 pages

Summary: This book has lots of information about worms. It is written in a way that will be enjoyable for young children. The pictures show what earthworms look like tunneling under the ground and what kinds of things happen around the worms. It describes how worms dig and eat dirt as they go stretching out and squeezing. Worms are important because they mix and turn dirt so the plants have soft soil to grow in. The story also tells what worms look like and what they need to survive. The end of the book has two pages full of facts about worms.

Personal rating: ****Great! This story has cute pictures that realistically show what worms do and eat. It is written in language that children can understand and has good information.

Reading level: 2.2

Interest level: K-2

Integration: This book could be used in a science unit about gardens and things that live there. The teacher could have the children do a KWL chart before the unit and talk about what the students know about worms and what they they want to learn about worms. After reading this book they could answer their questions. If they didn't find the answers in this book then they could do research on the internet to find them. The teacher could bring in worms and have the students write about them in their science journals. They could label the different parts of a worm.
The teacher could read A Diary of a Worm and have the students compare/contrast the two books. Then the teacher could have them write their own story about the life of a worm using the information from Wonderful Worms.
The unit could be ended with the teacher bringing in chocolate pudding with oreo cookies and gummie worms stuck in it.

Potential problems: I don't foresee any problems while the students are reading this book.