Ear Worm!

The easy repetition invites listeners to join in. . . . A rollicking read with a gentle bedtime closing.

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.

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.

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. (Jan.)

Copyright 2021 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

A delightful new picture book chock full of inventive lyrics and colorful, fun wildlife illustrations. . . . Lavishly illustrated, this title is sure to delight children and leave them with ear worms of their own. —School Library Connection