I don’t know about you, but I frequently wake up with an ear worm, a song stuck in my head that hums around as I start the day and sticks with me until something else comes along to dislodge it. Today it was The Cowsills’ “The Rain, the Park, and Other Things”--”I love the flower girl. Oh, I don’t know just why. She simply caught my eye.” The good news is these ear worms are always songs I like.
In Ear Worm! (Candlewick Press, 2022), Little Worm has a similar situation. Yes, the worm has an ear worm, a pleasant little ditty playing in his mind, and he wants to know where it came from or who gave it to him. As he asks his friends about it, they also have their own mental jukeboxes playing, and they all share their songs, along with dance moves inspired by the music.
Ear Worm! is the first picture book from young-adult and middle-grade author Jo Knowles, and it’s a treat for the eyes, ears, and imaginations of picture book audiences. Those who can read it on their own will automatically generate tunes to the words and syllables presented as each animal’s ear worm. If Ear Worm! is read aloud, the heightened use of musical sound will add an extra dimension to the listening experience. The poetic texts of the song snippets have just enough rhythm, syncopation, and repetition to help readers imagine and create their own music.
Galia Bernstein’s delightful illustrations featuring Little Worm, Owl, Chipmunk, Fox, and Bunny show the animals with over-sized, expressive eyes, dance movements appropriate for each, and a lot of smiles. (It’s hard to draw smiling animals while maintaining the characteristics of their non-human mouths!) I can easily imagine children imitating the song-and-dance moves they see on the pages.
Some subtle, positive messages are embedded in the story too. Little Worm realizes that having fun can lighten the load of too much heavy thinking, and he finds comfort both at home and out in the world with friends.
Ear Worm! will become the favorite picture book of many children who will want to read (and hear) it over and over. Although well known for her gifted ability to connect with teen and tween readers, Ear Worm! shows that Jo Knowles is also attuned to even younger readers, and the rest of us who are prone to musical ear worms.