Undercover Hero: Superworm! by Julia Donaldson

TOADS AND INSECTS, GIVE A SHOUT.

SUPERWORM WILL HELP YOU OUT!

They may be beneath Superman's radar, but toads, bees, and beetles need some super saving, too. And for that, there's that undercover master of rescue, Superworm!

When a baby toad wanders onto a major roadway, who dares to try to save him? Well, it's not much of a stretch for Superworm to pop up, make himself into a lasso, and rope him in, back to cover of the grass beside the road.

When a baby beetle falls down into the deep well, who you gonna call? Superworm, that's who.With his long, extendable body, he dangles down to the water, and hauls the little beetle baby right up to safety.  He even shapes his rubbery body into some theme park rides to amuse the bored boy and girl bees. It's unanimous! Superworm is the hero of bugs and beetles, snails and slugs! His fans break into a cheery chant:

"SUPERWORM IS SUPER-LONG.
SUPERWORM IS SUPER-STRONG.
WATCH HIM WIGGLE! SEE HIM SQUIRM!
HIP, HIP, HOORAY FOR SUPERWORM!"

But, alas! The chant of his followers reaches the ears of the nefarious Wizard Lizard, self-styled evil overlord of the woods. These woods are not big enough for two superpowers, and Lizard dispatches his minion noir, Black Crow, who swoops and snatches Superworm in his beak and bears him back to the evil Wizard, who puts him under a spell and declares Superworm his slave. But the wicked Wiz Liz has reckoned without a thought for Superworm's friends, who form a flash mob of many talents--bees bearing honeycombs, toted on snail-back, and a jumping spider with web-weaving skills that soon have the Wizard Lizard himself ensnared and stuck in sticky stuff and dropped off by a flight of drones in the dump.

"HIP, HIP, HOORAY FOR SUPERWORM!"

It's a well-versed return engagement for notable author Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler, the dynamic duo which gave us the evergreen best-selling The Gruffalo, the classic witch tale, Room on the Broom, and The Snail and the Whale, in their latest rhyming and romping collaboration, Superworm (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic Press, 2014). Donaldson and Scheffler are masters of the silly-premised, jolly rhyming, humorously illustrated picture book, and their unlikely down and dirty superhero is sure to draw down deep belly-laughs from their primary-grade fans.

Read this one along with any of Doreen Cronin's equally wonderful Diary of a Worm, Diary of a Spider, or Diary of a Fly, and the kids won't stop buzzing and wiggling and giggling till next week!