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A review by katykelly
They Didn't Teach THIS in Worm School! by Simone Lia
4.0
This caught my eye in the library, looking for books to read to my six year old at bedtime. We are at the stage of comfortably reading a chapter or two a night of a longer story, and able to concentrate enough to remember the plot from night to night.
Simone Lia writes and illustrates - it's an eye-catching cover and title, and my son liked the sound of the story.
Marcus is a worm who is a bit of a 'home bird' (pun intended), who likes brown, mud, digging and other worms. So it's both a shock and rather terrifying when he finds himself 'meeting' a bird who may or may not want to eat him, but gets talked out of it by Marcus promising to be his navigator and take him to his spiritual home in Africa.
Yep, this pigeon thinks he's a flamingo and wants to go meet his relations in another continent, but can't read a map or find his own way. Neither can Marcus, but he's not about to volunteer this information!
And so, with an initially odd-man relationship, the two begin their journey, meeting new friends, potential enemies, getting into quirky scrapes and maybe just managing to appreciate each other along the way.
My son is probably a little young for this story, though he listened well and knew what was going on. There was a little more wordplay than he could understand, just above his level from Marcus as narrator. A lot happens quite quickly, it did move fast which would suit an older, independent reader better.
It's funny, the black-white-red colour scheme works and stands out, there are plenty of pictures to keep it accessible and a good lead in to longer, more text-heavy stories for those who haven't been reading too long, but also keeps the chapters fairly short.
The story is fairly predictable to an adult reading, but the ultimate theme of friendship and 'finding home in your own backyard' (with thanks to Oz here) is a good one for children about appreciating your friends and family.
Our favourite scenes were the beatboxing ones (can't say I enjoyed trying to do this for various animals!!) as the pair try to escape some very hungry diners. My son still talks about this part.
Probably best for readers aged 7 or 8 up to 11.
Simone Lia writes and illustrates - it's an eye-catching cover and title, and my son liked the sound of the story.
Marcus is a worm who is a bit of a 'home bird' (pun intended), who likes brown, mud, digging and other worms. So it's both a shock and rather terrifying when he finds himself 'meeting' a bird who may or may not want to eat him, but gets talked out of it by Marcus promising to be his navigator and take him to his spiritual home in Africa.
Yep, this pigeon thinks he's a flamingo and wants to go meet his relations in another continent, but can't read a map or find his own way. Neither can Marcus, but he's not about to volunteer this information!
And so, with an initially odd-man relationship, the two begin their journey, meeting new friends, potential enemies, getting into quirky scrapes and maybe just managing to appreciate each other along the way.
My son is probably a little young for this story, though he listened well and knew what was going on. There was a little more wordplay than he could understand, just above his level from Marcus as narrator. A lot happens quite quickly, it did move fast which would suit an older, independent reader better.
It's funny, the black-white-red colour scheme works and stands out, there are plenty of pictures to keep it accessible and a good lead in to longer, more text-heavy stories for those who haven't been reading too long, but also keeps the chapters fairly short.
The story is fairly predictable to an adult reading, but the ultimate theme of friendship and 'finding home in your own backyard' (with thanks to Oz here) is a good one for children about appreciating your friends and family.
Our favourite scenes were the beatboxing ones (can't say I enjoyed trying to do this for various animals!!) as the pair try to escape some very hungry diners. My son still talks about this part.
Probably best for readers aged 7 or 8 up to 11.