Talking to Worms

Coming February 9, 2027. Pre-order today! By: Sara Levine / Illustrated by: Duc Huy An Pets can't talk . . . can they? When Jane and Niko gather worms to populate their outdoor worm house, they design a series of experiments to ensure their worm habitat is exactly what the worms want: Dirt or no dirt? Light or no light? Art or no art? Through observation and note-taking, the siblings "talk" to their worms and learn how to make the optimal habitat. Extend the learning beyond the story with expertly crafted back matter, including additional information about experimental design and animal behavior and fun STEAM activities. STEAMWORKS features children of all backgrounds and abilities using scientific and mathematical thinking to solve everyday problems and answer questions that matter to them. Playful stories and extension activities ignite excitement for science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) and empower children as thinkers, problem solvers, and innovators. If you like this book, you’ll enjoy these: STEAMWORKS [TABS] Look Inside Downloadables Download the Cover Download the Book Buddy (English) Download the Book Guide (English) Download the Book Guide (Spanish) Download the Ant Watch Activity (English) Download the Ant Watch Activity (Spanish) Download the Animal Sketches Activity (English) Download the Animal Sketches Activity (Spanish) Author & Illustrator Sara Levine, author Sara Levine is a veterinarian, author, and educator who loves animals, books, and books about animals. Her picture books include The Animals Would Not Sleep, which received the Mathical Book Award; Flower Talk; Fossil by Fossil; Tooth by Tooth, which received the AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books and was recognized by Bank Street College as a Best Children's Book of the Year; and many more. Read more about Sara Levine. Duc Huy An, illustrator Duc Huy An, also known as Jayden, is a Vietnamese illustrator and storyteller based in Florida. After graduating from the game art program at George Brown College in Toronto, Huy started his freelance career as an illustrator, beginning with traditional watercolor custom portraits and progressing to illustrating children’s books. Read more about Duc Huy An. Awards & Honors Coming soon! Editorial Reviews Kirkus Reviews Two children employ the scientific method to find out what their wriggly new pets are trying to tell them. Noting that the 10 earthworms the kids have collected in a cardboard box have crawled to the corners, Niko wonders if they’re trying to say that they want out. “That’s one hypothesis,” says older sib Jane. “Let’s ask.” The “asking” involves a series of experiments—covering half the box to see if the worms like shade, adding dirt to part of the bottom to see if they prefer dirt, and taping drawings to the sides to see if they’re drawn to art—and then observing and discussing the results. One final trial, cutting holes along the bottom edge with help from their mom, provides a definitive result: The next morning, the worms have all vanished. The children are disappointed, but “Now we know.” Leaving the two to conduct further dialogues with a pill bug they’re cheered to find in their box, Levine concludes her clearly laid out text with simple guidelines for young scientists eager to design safe, methodical animal studies of their own—plus nods to the iconic zoologists after whom she named her duo, Jane Goodall and Niko Tinbergen. An’s light-skinned figures all sport big, dewy eyes that lend sweet overtones to the illustrations. An artfully simple introduction to science’s most valuable research tool. Details English Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-62354-691-5 English Paperback ISBN: 978-1-62354-692-2 Spanish Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-62354-693-9 Spanish Paperback ISBN: 978-1-62354-694-6 Ages: 4–7 Page count: 40 91/2 x 81/2 Publication date: February 9, 2027 [/TABS]