Beware the Diminishing Power of Casual Remarks: "It's Just A..."

Before I say a word about this colorful, artful picture book, I confess. I was NEVER a fan of worms as a child. I experienced them as slime trails, squished remains under bike tires, slippery challenges for fishing hooks, and the cause of that post-rain funky smell in the air. That was all to cover up the fact that worms scared me. 

I still have no idea just what I was scared of, but I vividly recall avoiding contact at all costs, and that siblings and their friends knew they could chase me away by holding up a sample.

My adult self "holds" worms in high regard. I dig in garden soil comfortably and try to avoid slicing into those valuable, productive, essential worms below the surface.I can even handle them myself as circumstances require, although that still is NOT something I go out of my way to do. 

Greenwillow Books, March 14, 2023

This new picture book, JUST A WORM, written and created by Marie Boyd, intrigued me on many levels. The extra large image above allows you to appreciate that this was imagined and assembled using an eye-appealing paper-quill-scroll technique combined with photographic capture of three-dimensional layouts. More about that quilling technique below, but first, let's meet WORM. 

As Worm "la-la-la"s its way across the ground, voices related to two sets of kid's legs share an "Ew" and the remark that it is "Just A worm". Those words echo what my childhood self would likely have said. That incident launches lighthearted, wiggly, squiggly Worm on a journey of discovery to prove he can DO things. Things that matter. 

From that point on I was rooting for Worm. My own understanding of what worms DO led the central  process for me hold them in high regard, and to my eagerness to share their ecological value with kids. This is an excellent picture book to make that an appealing experience.

In a beautiful garden that expands in color and variety from page to page, Worm inquires of garden creatures about what THEY can do. In each case, (caterpillar, butterfly, dragonfly, bee, spider, and snail, as suggested on the cover), Worm lacks their skills. In each interaction, though, Worm recognizes what it CAN do, but mentally attaches that "just" qualifier to those seemingly unimportant skills, dismissing their value. It is only when Worm realizes that by cleaning, casting, (okay, pooping), feeding, and digging through the soil, it contributed to this gorgeous, healthy garden. This realization makes the sting of that "just" remark fall away.

The illustrations invite close examination and tempt audiences to wonder how they were made and even try it themselves. Boyd achieves an ideal balance between intricacy and seeming simplicity in each element and in the full scene assemblies. Boyd uses a combination of elaborate quilling in flowers alongside carefully cut and shaped papers with curled edges, some twisted, arched, and otherwise raised from the background page to provide shadows and depth. Overhead clouds tell a story of their own, with sizes, color, quantity, and depth indicating changes of mood and rising tension. I was especially intrigued by the tiny fan-folds in Worm and the subtle shading of its shape and color on the cover image. Worm is rendered in pen and ink throughout the book, except for the final spread, which is the only spread in the story where Boyd made Worm from quilled paper. A two-page spread in back matter demonstrates some examples of the scroll/quill techniques used. Scroll down to the bottom of Boyd's homepage to find examples you can observe in the making: HERE.

Take time to check this one out carefully, exploring connections to environmental education, self-esteem, food cycles, and peer pressure/name-calling.The final page turn provides some additional thoughts from Boyd (attributed to Worm in speech bubbles) that readers and families/classes may explore on these themes and topics, as well as a few added facts about earthworms and a brief glossary. This is an excellent example of a book I wish I'd had while teaching about "decomposers", the remarkably efficient and productive trash disposers/composters of our planet. They are seriously unappreciated and under-protected! Recommended for all ages as nonfiction text and mentor work for art and illustration.

Release date: March 14, 2023       Preorder discount link HERE.