Hazel Rochman (Booklist, Oct. 1, 2003 (Vol. 100, No. 3))
The verbal puns and the wry, colorful cartoons create a funny worm's-eye view of the world in this playful picture book. There's no sustained story here, as there was in Cronin's wonderful Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (2000), but the hilarious vignettes of the worm-child with his family, friends, and enemies show the absurd in humans as much as in the wriggling creatures in the earth. When the worm forgets his lunch, he eats his homework, and he loves telling his older sister that her face will always look like her rear end. One advantage of being a worm is that he never has to go to the dentist: no cavities. "No teeth, either," says Dr. D. Kay. The pictures are both silly and affectionate, whether the worm holds a pencil or hugs his favorite pile of dirt. And there's always the elemental child appeal of how it feels to be tiny in a world of giants. Category: Books for the Young--Fiction. 2003, HarperCollins, $15.99, $16.89. PreS-Gr. 1.

Sharon Levin (Children's Literature)
Diary of a Worm has LOTS of dirt, but mainly it's got a delightful sense of humor. Again, written in diary form (and if your children ask how a worm can hold a pencil, the cover illustration addresses that wonderfully) we learn three things that worms (or this worm at least) should always remember: "1. The earth gives us everything we need. 2. When we dig tunnels, we help take care of the earth. 3. Never bother Daddy when he's eating the newspaper." This is the book that gives us our "near death" experience as we see what the underside of a shoe looks like to a worm when it has slithered onto a hopscotch game. One of my favorite parts is the school dance. "Last night I went to the school dance. You put your head in. You put your head out. You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself about. That's all we could do." The illustration shows these semi-disgusted worm faces looking at each other realizing maybe that the Hokey Pokey was not the best choice of dances for worms to do. Our little worm lists reasons he likes and dislikes being a worm. No cavities because he has no teeth (that's good), can't chew gum (that's bad). The end papers of the book have photos from his photo album including the family vacation on Compost Island. 2003, HarperCollins, $15.99 and $16.89. Ages 4 to 8.

Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature)
Our worm hero is introduced on the cover, writing the diary that is the text. His prize photos and mementos are taped into the end papers. With his jaunty baseball cap, he is far more than the average worm. In entries from March to August, our narrator has adventures with family, friends, and hopscotch players, goes to school, learns lessons and wisdom from his family, does an unforgettable "hokey pokey," and puts in some good words for ecology. He's a real charmer with a sense of humor. Bliss's cartoon characters in context tickle our funny bones. A bed is made from an empty tea bag carton, the worm youngsters sit around mushroom tables, one worm has a scraggly beard. Designed mainly as vignettes, the illustrations emphasize the actions in the variety of the worm's experiences through the days, similar in many ways to those of human youngsters. 2003, Joanna Cotler Books/HarperCollins Publishers, $15.99. Ages 4 to 8.

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 2004)
A funny and original picture book chronicles the everyday life of a young worm through diary entries. With his little red baseball cap and homework woes, aspects of the worm's life will be more than recognizable to many children. But some things are uniquely wormy. In April, when fishing season starts, "We all dug deeper." The day they make macaroni necklaces in art class, "I brought mine home and we ate it for dinner." Doreen Cronin's witty concept and text are extended by Harry Bliss's terrific illustrations. How does a worm make a macaroni necklace? Why, by wriggling into a single piece of macaroni! The endpapers show a scrapbook compilation of the worm's family photos and mementos, including his most recent report card (an "A" in Tunnel, "Pass" in Compost). CCBC categories: Picture Books for School-Aged Children. 2003, Joanna Cotler Books / HarperCollins, 36 pages, $15.99 and $16.89. Ages 5-9.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2003 (Vol. 71, No. 15))
Each turn of the page will bring fresh waves of giggles as a young worm records one misadventure after another. He tries to teach his arachnid friend how to dig a tunnel; learns the peril of hanging out on a sidewalk during a game of hopscotch; suffers a nightmare from eating too much garbage before bedtime; makes a one-piece macaroni necklace in art class; earns a parental reprimand for telling his older sister that "no matter how much time she spends looking in the mirror, her face will always look just like her rear end," and much, much more. Bliss gives this limbless young diarist a face and an identifying red cap, adds plenty of sight gags, and just to set the tone, plasters (painted) snapshots on the endpapers captioned "My favorite pile of dirt," "My report card" ("Needs to resist eating homework"), etc., etc. Readers will come away with the insight that worms may not be so good at walking upside down or doing the Hokey Pokey, but they do play an important role in taking care of the Earth. Not so different from us, after all. 2003, HarperCollins, $15.99. Category: Picture book. Ages 6 to 9. Starred Review. © 2003 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, October 2003 (Vol. 57, No. 2))
Yes, this is the diary of a worm, a young baseball-capped guy noting his under- and above-ground activities from March to August. Worm Kid studies hard but has a tendency to eat his homework, he enjoys taunting his sister ("I told her that no matter how much time she spends looking in the mirror, her face will always look just like her rear end"), and he plays with his friend Spider, though they have the occasional falling out ("He told me you need legs to be cool"). There’s no real story arc, and it would be nice to have a fuller explanation of the environmental importance to which the text often alludes, but the shovelfuls of jokes will squirm directly to kids’ funnybones: the limitations on worm hokey pokey, the dangers of hopscotch, and the pleasures of scaring kids on the playground will all make kids wiggle with giggles. Bliss’ earthworms are tidy and personable crawlers in trim black lines, sporting small individual identifiers such as eyeglasses and hair ribbons, with touches of highlighting and shading suggesting wormy segmentation. The poker-faced juxtaposition of underground habitation with the homey details of above-ground life adds additional humor for viewers, who will also get a kick out of the wormy photo album that constitutes the final spread. This will be a snicker-provoking readalone for readers reluctant and otherwise, and it would also make a comic readaloud--if you’re feeling especially wicked, pair it with a fishing story. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2003, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2003, Cotler/HarperCollins, 34p, $16.89 and $15.99. Grades 2-4.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 2004)
Brief, pithy diary entries record the ups and downs of a worm’s life at home, in the classroom, and hanging out with his pal Spider. Cronin places her protagonist in situations that every kid can relate to ("I forgot my lunch today"), then adds a humorous twist specific to worms ("I ate my homework"). Bliss’s whimsical illustrations add fun to a story that also includes a gentle message about ecology. Category: Picture Books. 2003, HarperCollins/Cotler, 40pp, $15.99, $16.89. Ages 4 to 9. Rating: 2: Superior, well above average.

Lola Barnes (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 16, No. 2))
This is the diary of a worm. Through this diary, the young worm tells the good things and the bad things about being a worm. Surprisingly, the worm is not much different than you or me. This would be a good book to show students how to make journal entries or how to take the worm's good and bad points and turn them into a comparison paper for TAKS writing. Fiction. Grades 2-4. 2003, Joanna Cotler Books, Unpaged., $16.89. Ages 7 to 10.