Wiggle and Waggle [Hardcover]

Caroline Arnold (Author), Mary Peterson (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up

We wiggle and waggle, squiggle and squirm, Digging in the dirt is the life of a worm. We dig and we sing all day long, Our wiggly, waggly, gardening song. Follow Wiggle and Waggle, two wormy best friends, through five wormy chapters as they dig in the dirt, work hard, and have fun swimming and singing. Beginnings readers will dig the simple science facts included at the end of this charming book.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The eponymous heroes of this early reader are two genial, googly-eyed earthworms who are also best friends. In five short chapters, Wiggle and Waggle (the latter, distinguished by a pair of glasses) learn that singing makes a job go faster; a difficult task—moving a big rock out of a tunnel—is made easier when individuals work together; and a rainy day needn't be a spoiler if you have an upbeat outlook. Arnold's (Super Swimmers) writing has an easygoing cadence and just the right amount of repetition (They dug long tunnels, short tunnels, fat tunnels, and thin tunnels), although her wrap-ups for each story can be fairly anticlimactic (after a day of singing and digging tunnels, Waggle muses, We are a good team.... Let's dig again tomorrow). Peterson (No Time to Nap!) is all-around terrific, tightly cropping her environments to keep the action focused on her characters and conveying a sense of contrasting scale (an unharvested carrot dwarfs the two worms). As for the two leads themselves, they're spunky, comically gangly and just vulnerable enough to be adorable. For youngsters smitten by this duo, a list of facts about worms and how they contribute to a healthy garden concludes this cheery collection. Ages 5-8. (July)
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From Booklist

Here comes another buddy duo, that narrative staple in the world of easy readers. This time it's a pair of worms, Wiggle and Waggle. Four short stories chronicle their adventures. In the amusing "A Digging Song," the worms find digging hard work, so they make up a song: "We wiggle and waggle, squiggle and squirm; Digging in dirt is the life of the worm." The second chapter is a little flat, just moving a rock. But things pep up in the last two vignettes, where the worm buddies go for a picnic (dirt rolls!) and tunnel out their names. Longer than some easy readers, such as Mo Willems' recent titles about Elephant and Piggie, this will give new readers a bit of a challenge. The artwork, done in earth tones, of course, features two goofy, google-eyed worms. Good quality paper and an attractive design add to the book's pick-me-up quotient. Cooper, Ilene

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing; 1 edition (June 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580893066
• ISBN-13: 978-1580893060
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,574,519 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wiggle and Waggle are a fun, dynamic duo who live and work in a garden!, May 23, 2009

By 

D. Fowler "Dragonfly77" (Vermont) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wiggle and Waggle (Paperback)

Wiggle and Waggle live in a garden and work all day long making loops around the plants. They decided to sing to make their work easier because making tunnels in the ground was very hard work. One day Wiggle was digging away and forgot, as usual, to look where he was going and BUMP! He crashed into a rock. With his friend Waggle's help they worked and worked and worked and got that rock out of the way. The two of them had many adventures together. There was the picnic under the bucket on a rainy day (including mud pie), swimming in the mud puddle (SPLASH!), slipping and sliding through the tunnel to write their names and promising to do it all again next year!

"We wiggle and waggle, squiggle and squirm.
Digging in dirt is the life of a worm.
We dig and we sing all day long,
Our wiggle, waggly, gardening song."

This is a fun book for the beginning, but confident reader and will keep him smiling and singing along with Wiggle and Waggle, enjoying their fun adventures right along with them. This book has five chapters and could be a read aloud book in a classroom or homeschool setting. In the back of the book is a short discussion on how "worms help plants grow" and some fun worm facts. Now one worm fact is that singing did make things easier for Wiggle and Waggle!

5.0 out of 5 stars Love this book!, November 27, 2010

By 

linda "linda" (california) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wiggle and Waggle (Paperback)

Just read this book to my 3 year old son. He loves it and asked me to read it again and again. It is easy reading, love the illustrations and what a great way for kids to learn about what worms do.

5.0 out of 5 stars Really good book, November 21, 2010

By 

J. Manges - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wiggle and Waggle (Hardcover)

My four year old grandson loves this book. It has become a "must read" every night. Not many books can hold their attention that long. We first found it at the local library and he cried when it had to be returned so it became a must for his home library. Great book.