Worm Story

by Morris Gleitzman

Wilton has no tendrils, no friends and no idea why he's so different to all the other microbes in his stretch of the intestine. But now he's had enough. He's going where no microbe has gone before. To the end of the known world, where the sludge gods dwell. To discover if he truly is a microbe. Or maybe a worm? Or possibly just a noodle that can talk? After an epic journey, Wilton and his new friend Algy find their way back home, and discover that the true key to saving each other, their world and their 'janet' lies not with the sludge gods, but with themselves.

Genres: Childrens, Humor

Paperback

First published November 29, 2004

About the author

Morris began his writing career as a screenwriter, and wrote his first children's novel in 1985. His brilliantly comic style has endeared him to children and adults alike, and he is now one of Australia's most successful authors, both internationally and at home. He was born in England in 1953 and emigrated to Australia in 1969 so he could escape from school and become a Very Famous Writer.

Before realising that dream, he had a colourful career as paperboy, bottle-shop shelf-stacker, department store Santa Claus, frozen chicken defroster, fashion-design assistant and sugar-mill employee. In between he managed to gain a degree in Professional Writing at the Canberra College of Advanced Education. Later he became sole writer for three award-winning and top-rating seasons with the TV comedy series The Norman Gunston Show.

Morris wrote a number of feature film and telemovie screenplays, including The Other Facts of Life and Second Childhood, both produced by The Australian Children's Television Foundation. The Other Facts of Life won an AWGIE Award for the Best Original Children's Film Script.

He also wrote live stage material for people such as Rolf Harris, Pamela Stephenson and the Governor General of Australia. Morris is well known to many people through his semi-autobiographical columns in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald magazine, Good Weekend, which he wrote for nine years.

But the majority of Morris' accolades are for his hugely popular children's books. One of his most successful books for young people is Two Weeks with the Queen, an international bestseller which was also adapted into a play by Mary Morris. The play had many successful seasons in Australia and was then produced at the National Theatre in London in 1995 directed by Alan Ayckbourn, and also in South Africa, Canada, Japan and the USA.

All his other books have been shortlisted for or have won numerous children's book prizes. These include The Other Facts of Life, Second Childhood, Misery Guts, Worry Warts, Puppy Fat, Blabber Mouth, Sticky Beak, Belly Flop, Water Wings, Bumface, Gift Of The Gab, Toad Rage, Wicked! and Deadly!, two six-part novels written in collaboration with Paul Jennings, Adults Only, Toad Heaven, Boy Overboard, Teacher's Pet, Toad Away, Girl Underground, Worm Story, Once, Aristotle's Nostril, Doubting Thomas, Give Peas A Chance, Then, Toad Surprise, Grace, Now, Too Small To Fail, and his latest book, Pizza Cake. Morris' children's books have been published in the UK, the USA, Germany, Italy, Japan, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Indonesia and Czechoslovakia, Russia and China.

Reviews

[Samuel Wilks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious, bloody great story 10/10 would read again, but I think a 5th read's too much.

[Stef Rozitis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first time I read a Morris Gleitzman story that did not have a serious message. His writing was still creative, light-hearted and the humour was clever. I found the subject matter of this one unbearably gross but I get that he is not writing it for 46 year olds. Much younger me would have laughed even more and not felt so queasy.

Wha do you do when all your friends are parasites?

Gleitzman not only makes the jokes good but then enters the logic of his own joke and extends it. I love his ability to do that. This book was not completely my cup of tea but I am still a fan of the author.

[Dean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Loved this as a kid, it was my favorite book as a 4th grader. Revisited it for a reading challenge this year and all I could remember was that it was a parasitic worm adventure story. Didn’t really age well into 2025 if I’m being honest. The humor and especially the handling of weight was definitely a product of its time.

[Gina Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Talking worms and bacteria hanging on dogs and kids behinds….(and each other’s poop holes), hanging out in the dirtiest of areas to make a story …. Not my cup of tea, didn’t really find it funny, even if I was a kid I think I’d still find it grose over funny.

[Anna Davidson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very silly story that is bound to appeal to some students. Quite a lot of vocabulary relating to the human body that readers need to be familiar with before reading.

[Shane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well...this was a disappointment. I am a big Morris Gleitzman fan, but this book definitely didn't live up to any of his others I have previously read. There are still the positive messages to young readers (believe in yourself, the power of friendship, treat people nicely etc), but the story itself was clunky & just grated. We have microbes with "chat" molecules, "hope" molecules & any other function or emotion the author thought they needed. We could have had the personification without the clunky molecule system and it would have flowed better. Similarly, sometimes how the characters know about the outside world or the workings of the body are explained - & often they aren't. And don't get me started on how microbes created through binary fission know all about what happened to the original microbe, after they were created and separated in different parts of the body.

The battle in the host body is resolved literally through the words "and they did" - leading to an extremely abrupt ending.

My 10yo read 50 pages or so & her conclusion was "I don't get it". I'm with her & I only finished it because it was short & I wanted to see what "the message" was in rest of the story. Don't read unless you already love Morris Gleitzman - because I wouldn't want you turned off any of his other wonderful books, like 'Boy Overboard' & the 'Once' series.

[Maddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

for some reason i didn't really like it. i read it in grade 5 i think. i should read it again.

[Cathal Reynolds · Rating 1 out of 5]

I liked it, it was cute, but a bit tmi.

[Nola · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very silly, though mildly amusing in places. I didn't find it as funny as some of his other books.

[Abbey Chong · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favourite books in primary school! Funny and enjoyable to read!

[Rhea]

So this book just popped into my head today, there was a period of time from 2009-10 where this the book I wrote in the “my favourite book” section of those friend profiles everyone passed around. 9 year old me had questionable preferences.