I was looking at my shelves thinking: what to review today? Then I see the 'A' authors (yes, my picture books are in alphabetical order by author, so what, it's no secret I'm a nerd) and this delightful gem came floating back into my memory.
The story of how I was introduced to it: My first bookshop job was in the 'Art and Design' section of Kinokuniya in Sydney, when they first opened and I was but 18 and had recently fled the food service industry after only 3 months of hell to find a haven in books.
When I say I worked in the 'Art and Design' section, I was employed by a company that stocked their Art and Design books, and therefore I was confined to the one information desk, and never even worked on the registers or anything. ANYWHO... my best friend from high school who had recently moved interstate for Uni had come to visit and dropped in on me while I was at work. He said, "Wait here a minute" and promptly disappeared. As if I could have left my station anyway. Shortly later, he returned holding a book and said "you have to buy this."
I read it.
I bought it.
It is pure gold!
I wish I could find images from inside the book to show you just how good it is, but alas, you'll have to hunt it down yourself, safe in the knowledge that Janet Ahlberg is one of the great classic children's illustrators and that her and her husband, Allan, were an amazing pair.
In lieu of pictures, I'll just give you a few choice quotes and you can see what we're dealing with here:
"THE COMMON WORM
All good worms have a beginning, a middle and an end.
Worms with two beginnings, a middle and no end are apt to injure themselves.
Worms with to ends, a middle and no beginning get bored."
The illustrations that accompany this hilariously straightforward text are equally hilariously straightforward. Reading through looking for more quotes, I've been laughing heartily, but the quotes need to be read with the illustrations to be true genius.
"There have been worms on the Earth, or rather in it, ever since time began. When dinosaurs trampled noisily and pushed each other around, the worms were keeping well out of the way."
This is the perfect Fiction-Non-Fiction book on worms, with everything you didn't know about worms and simply want to believe now that you have discovered these fantastic facts!
After all:
"The worms were here before us. Perhaps, when we are gone, they will be here still - Lords of the Earth."
Consider this blog post as me putting this book in your hands and saying "you have to buy this."
Find it on Goodreads
