They Didn't Teach THIS in Worm School!

December 18, 2017
After nearly ending up as a bird’s breakfast, a worm named Marcus agrees to be the bird’s navigator, helping him fly from England to Lake Nakuru National Park in Kenya. Marcus and Laurence quickly get turned around, leading them to mistake an electrical tower for a more notable landmark (“At the top there were tight wires that connected it to... other Eiffel Towers”), and get captured by a hungry mole, among other mishaps. Lia’s chunky cartoon spot illustrations add to the ample humor of this friendship-focused story, as she lets readers revel in knowing what these two bumbling buddies don’t. “Marcus, it’s like we’re living in a movie that is full of funny coincidences,” reflects Laurence in a zoo they believe to be Kenya. “This is such a great movie.” Ages 7–9.

November 1, 2017
Adventures and shattered illusions lead to true friendship in this tale of a chicken and a quick-talking worm.Readers will just have to go with parts of this. Marcus the worm's dreams of flying are interrupted when he's suddenly dumped from a "Can-O-Worm" into the bowl of a chicken with "intense and menacing eyes." Impulsively offering a cheery greeting, Marcus manages to stave off his imminent demise by engaging the easily distracted chicken--Laurence, it turns out--in conversation. It so happens that Laurence, convinced that he's actually a flamingo, yearns to fly to Kenya's Lake Nakuru National Park to join others of his supposed ilk. Marcus strings him along, and soon bird and worm are winging off on a tiring if truncated journey, highlighted by encounters with supposedly foreign earthworms with peculiar customs and a friendly squirrel with "terrible teeth" but great dance moves. Marcus' gift of gab (plus a vaguely recalled anecdote featuring Robert the Bruce and a persistent spider) repeatedly comes in handy until Laurence's dismal discovery that he isn't anything like the local zoo's real flamingos clears the way for professions of mutual friendship and heavy-handed ruminations on how kindness and respect lie at friendship's heart. Lia adds very simply drawn pink and gray figures to nearly every generously spaced page of this quixotic episode.Labored, particularly at the end, but daffy enough to fly. (Fantasy. 8-10)

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January 1, 2018
Grades 2-4 Marcus (a worm) and Laurence (a chickenlike bird) make an unusual pair, but Marcus only escapes becoming breakfast by agreeing to fly with the bird to Africa. Directionally challenged, Laurence has only been able to dream about traveling, but he is convinced that a subterranean creature like a worm must have an innate sense of direction, making Marcus the perfect navigator for his journey. Laurence is also under the curious impression that he is a flamingo. Marcus, in no position to argue either point, settles onto Laurence's feathery back and away they go. Sort of. Having no idea which way Africa is, the worm resorts to giving directions at random, with hysterical results. Lia's illustrated chapter book will make kids squirm with laughter. Cartoonish two-color drawings playfully interact with the text, while comical misunderstandings and misadventures propel the plot, over the course of which Marcus (who narrates) and Laurence develop a true friendship. For a similarly styled nonfiction tie-in, pair this with The Worm (2014), from Elise Gravel's Disgusting Critters series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2019
Marcus is a worm who's just trying to avoid becoming breakfast for Laurence, a chicken who believes he is a flamingo and belongs in Africa. Instead of being eaten, Marcus hops on Laurence to help navigate his journey to Africa, and an unlikely friendship forms. Lia's illustrations use simple shapes and cartoony expressions to bring this odd-couple adventure comedy to life.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)