WIGGLING WORMS AT WORK

Here’s an eye-opener for anyone unimpressed by the lowly worm. Pfeffer confirms what most preschoolers know: worms rock! In simple, precise prose, she describes how worms tunnel through soil by eating it, and how both the tunnels and the castings that the worms leave behind help plants grow in the soil. She covers worm anatomy and physiology in some detail (and, in the back, invites children to find worms and let them crawl down their arms, to experience their motion and bristles themselves). Jenkins’s collages provide interesting texture; the cut-away views of worms underground are especially good. For a creature with “no eyes, no nose, no ears, and hardly any brain at all,” the worm commands respect; Pfeffer shows why. Even squeamish kids will love this. (Picture book/nonfiction. 4-8)