Repeat Repeat Repeat

It usually appears out of nowhere.  Perhaps, a specific smell signals it.  A word or phrase may awaken it.  A few notes from another melody can revive it.  However it arrives, it is here to stay, refusing to leave.  It soundlessly follows you everywhere, sometimes for hours (or more).

At first, you allow it to play in your mind.  You may even hum along with it.  And, as hard as it is to say, you soon find yourself dancing.  In Ear Worm! (Candlewick Press, January 25, 2022) written by Jo Knowles with illustrations by Galia Bernstein, a worm, a tiny youngster of a worm, has a song firmly fixed in his mind.  He is puzzled by its appearance.  How did it get there?

One summer day, Little Worm went out to play and

discovered he had a song stuck in his head.

"Shimmy shimmy, no-sashay,

shimmy shimmy, no-sashay!"

he sang as he wriggled along.

Meeting his first friend of the day, Little Worm was told by Owl the meaning of an ear worm.  Of course, Little Worm thought that name was hilarious.  When he asked Owl if he put the song in his head, Owl said no.  He had his own song which he proceeded to sing.  There might have been some wing waving involved.

These two demonstrating their ear worm antics next met Chipmunk.  Chipmunk did not give the ear worm to Little Worm.  Chipmunk performed an equally original song and dance.  As the trio sang and moved to their own music, Bunny gently inquired about their songs and dances.  Little Worm was seeking answers and Bunny had her own answer.  Little Worm was feeling a tad bit discouraged.

Fox strolled onto the scene, sharing another different song and dance.  Now, there were five songs and five dances.  It was as if the members of an orchestra decided to stand up and dance their parts!  It was a party of happy-go-lucky participants!

Soon, Little Worm's father called him home for his nap.  Papa Worm wrapped Little Worm in his bed. Then, Papa Worm said . . .

In a lively blend of narrative and dialogue, author Jo Knowles introduces us to Little Worm and his four forest friends.  Little Worm's question to each friend and their subsequent response supply us with a rousing cadence.  Jo Knowles's use of alliteration and rhyming are an open invitation for reader participation.  You can't read this story without humming or singing or dancing or all three!  Here is a passage.

"That's not it at all," said Little Worm.  "But I like your moves!"

"Thank you," said Chipmunk.  "Mind if I join your search?"

"Fine by me," said Little Worm.

So:

"CHEE

CHEE,

CHITTER-EE!

"WAVE, WAVE, TALK to THE WING!"

and

"Shimmy shimmy, no-sashay!"

they went along.

Do you feel something happening to you when you look at the front of the matching dust jacket and book case?  That something is spreading from the tip of your toes to the top of your head and it is sheer happiness.  Look at Fox, Owl, Chipmunk, Little Worm and Bunny.  Every single one of them are grooving to their own music, their own special ear worm.  Their body postures and facial expressions here, and throughout the book, portray camaraderie and cheer.  The title text and musical notes are varnished on the dust jacket.

To the left of the spine on the jacket and case is a canvas of white.  (White is used wonderfully throughout the book to highlight and elevate the characters, their expressions, and movements.) The text reads:

Who put that song in

Little Worm's head?

Little Worm is singing his tune next to two yellow daisies. 

On the opening and closing endpapers in pink hues on pink is a pattern of Little Worm in all his various dance moves.  His wide eyes and smiling face are a superb hello and goodbye for this book.  Prior to the title page, Little Worm is alone on a background of pristine white.  On the title page in the lower, right-hand corner is a clump of blades of grass.  The title text is spelled by Little Worm.  He twists and turns his body for each letter and the exclamation point.  

With each page turn, the artwork of Galia Bernstein, digitally rendered, welcomes us into the world of Little Worm and his friends.  Each animal, by their stance, reflects their characteristics.  They are highly animated, especially when they start to dance to their original ear worm.  The animals are brought close to the reader.  There is little more than them on a white canvas except when Little Worm first meets them.  A pine bough is next to Owl, an acorn is near Chipmunk, Bunny stands by two yellow daisies, and Fox is near blades of grass like Little Worm.  Readers will delight in seeing what Papa Worm uses to clean their home.

One of my many favorite illustrations is actually three smaller ones on a single page.  It shows Owl doing three more dance steps after the first display of a leg lift and wing spreads.  In the first one, Owl extends both wings forward as one leg kicks back.  In the second one, Owl bends back with both wings and one leg extended back.  In the final move, Owl is slightly bowed with one wing extended up and the other bent to cover his face.  Little Worm watches from the lower, right-hand corner.  (I can guarantee story time listeners might stand up and start to dance at this point.)

You will never feel the same way again about getting an ear worm after reading this book, Ear Worm! written by Jo Knowles with illustrations by Galia Bernstein.  The upbeat words and illustrations are a boogie-woogie dance delight that will have listeners begging you to read it repeatedly.  This would make a wonderful reader's theater.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Jo Knowles and Galia Bernstein and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their websites.  Jo Knowles has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Galia Bernstein has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.  Jo Knowles wrote a guest post at the Nerdy Book Club about this title for the cover reveal.  At the publisher's website you can download a teacher's guide.  At Penguin Random House you can view interior images.

(My curiosity got the better of me.  I found an article about ear worms, Your Brain on Music: Earworms, The Kennedy Center.) 

Hear Me Roar . . . Meow

Without a doubt I am a one hundred percent dog person.  That does not necessarily mean I am not a cat person.  To tell you the truth, I have never been sure exactly how cats relate to me.  They are a lot harder to read, for me, than dogs.

The most time I ever spent with a cat was in high school.  One of my good friends was allowed to share her life with one.  No matter where we all went or how many people spent the night in the presence of that cat, it always, without fail, ended up on my pillow the next morning.  Sometimes it was literally on my head.

We know cats come in all shapes and sizes from almost all corners of the world.  I Am A Cat (Abrams Books for Young Readers, February 6, 2018) written and illustrated by Galia Bernstein, her debut title as both author and illustrator, presents us with a discussion.  This discourse begins with several simple declarations.

"Hello, my name is Simon.
I am a cat.  Just like you!"

The small gray cat makes these statements standing in front of a panther, tiger, cheetah, puma and a lion.  Simon's assertions freeze them, wide-eyed, where they sit, like deer caught in the headlights.  Seconds later they are laughing like he told them the best joke they've ever heard.

The first to point out the error of his thinking is the lion.  Simon can't be a cat.  Where are his mane and the tuft at the end of his tail? And the sounds he makes can hardly be considered a roar.

Cheetah points out Simon's size and shape in contrast to his own physique.  Simon would be left in the dust if the two of them raced.  Mountain dweller Puma notes he knows

fuzzy little rabbits

with more stamina that Simon.  Panther mentions the lack of his living in a proper habitat similar to his own.  Looking down at Simon with more than a little disrespect, Tiger asserts he looks more like a particular rodent than a majestic big cat.

When Simon professes his bewilderment announcing their differences, he challenges how they can all be cats.  Lion's reply mentions all the traits they share together.  When he finishes, Simon makes the only conclusion he can.  Lion, Puma, Panther, Tiger and Cheetah with a lot of scrutiny and mumbling answer as only they can.  Cats will be cats.


Galia Bernstein's sense of humor bursts forth immediately and without warning when the big cats respond to Simon's first three sentences.  Our interest and participation in the story comes when we read (listen) to the big cats' refutations.  You can almost hear them speaking as each one enumerates their distinctive traits.  This technique increases the subtle tension, leading us to yet another surprise in the narrative.  With cleverness Galia Bernstein weaves truths about each cat and cats in general into the dialogue.  Here is a passage.

"A cat?" said Lion.  "Don't be silly, dear boy.  You can't be a cat because I am a cat, and you are nothing like me at all. . . ."


Rendered digitally with applied hand-painted textures the illustrations, beginning with the opened dust jacket, invite readers to reach out and touch them.  The lower portion of the seated big cats extends over the spine to the far left side and into a portion of the flap.  On the right, one of the tiger's feet, legs and his tail covers a section of the right flap.  The text there curves around the curve of the tail.  The look on Simon's face on the front leads readers to believe something is about to happen.

On the book case a white canvas provides a background for Simon on the front, licking a paw as he looks up.  To the left, on the back, the entire group of cats forms a sleeping mound with Tiger as the base.  The opening and closing endpapers are an orange-red.  Under the text on the title page, Simon rests on a branch as if it's a hammock.  With a page turn we see his paw prints move from the far left page to where he sits on the right page.

For all of the illustrations white space is used with excellence as a design element.  The heavier, matte-finished paper highlights all the cats.  With the exception of two, all of the images by Galia Bernstein span two pages.  What she does to supply further interest and engagement for readers is to shift the perspective.  We move from a wider view to a close-up, see Simon as if we are seated with the big cats, and we see the big cats around us as if we are Simon looking up at them.

One of my many favorite illustrations is the first one without words.  As soon as I saw it the first time and every subsequent time, laughter bubbles up inside me.  You know something is going to change within the next few moments.  You hold your breath.  From left to right across two pages we see the upper portion and heads of the big cats in a row, Panther, Tiger, Cheetah, Puma and Lion.  They are in different poses.  Their eyes are wide open and their facial features are frozen.  It's the perfect picture to preface what follows.


Written and illustrated by Galia Bernstein I Am A Cat answers the age old question of what makes cats (or us) the same while honoring our differences.  The blend of illustrations, dialogue and humor will make this a title frequently requested at story time.  It would be a fantastic book to include in a unit on cats, fiction or nonfiction.  You will need to have this as part of your professional and personal collections.

By following the link attached to Galia Bernstein's name, you can access her website to learn more about her and her other work. Although the posts on her blog are older they give insight into her art.  Enjoy the book trailer.