Arnold, known for her science nonfiction, tucks plenty of natural history into this quintet of easy reading tales. Singing a work song - "We wiggle and waggle, squiggle and squirm. / Digging in dirt is the life of a worm" - two earthworms aerate a vegetable garden, work together to shift a rock out of the way, picnic beneath a bucket on dirt rolls and bug juice, play in a rain puddle and, finally, at summer's end, tunnel down for a long rest. Placing her worms in a well-tilled setting among healthy-looking veggies, Peterson endows them with smiles and goggle eyes, plus subtle differences in body color, and for Waggle, a pair of eyeglasses. An altogether agreeable visit to the garden, unsurprisingly capped by a page of additional worm facts.

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 a worm." The second chapter is 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.

Wiggle and Waggle tells of the simple doings/diggings of two worms (the eponymous Wiggle and Waggle), in 5 well-illustrated chapters. This book works very well both as a read-aloud and as an early reader. I tried it on my children (4 and 6) last night as both, with great success. Of course, its worth as an early reader was perhaps compromised by the fact that I had to read it out loud three times at the request of the 4 year old before the 6 year old got a chance to try.

The doings of the worms are simple--they work in the garden (dig dig dig), go on a picnic, go swimming, and dig some more. As an adult forced to re-read ad nausem, I would have liked a bit more--the worms are not as well characterized as Frog and Toad, for example, and their adventures not as compelling. But according to my children, this book was just as good if not better.

Caroline Arnold has written more than 130 children's books, mainly non-fiction, so it's not surprising that this book also includes an information page about worms at the end. I appreciated this, although I am not sure that my life is better for knowing that there are earthworms that grow to be 22 feet long. That's too long.

The illustrations are simple, with touches of whimsical detail -- after eating their picnic, for instance, the worms have round little tummies, which delighted my youngest. It is a tricky thing, I imagine, to illustrate an early reader--one doesn't want illustrations that distract too much from the text, but they still should be interesting. I think Peterson does a fine job striking that balance. The book itself is very handsome. Even thought the words themselves are simple, and the chapters short, the hardcover edition I have looks much more like a Real Book than most early readers, which is all to the good.

I am doing my best to ensure that my children like worms. We go to the compost pile to look for "wormies" -- "Oh wormy-squirmy! wormy-squirmy! how sweet!" says 4 year old; but sadly, my 6 year old has been affected by peer pressure, and has been known to say "gross." So I was glad to bring home this pro-worm book (joining the ranks of Diary of A Worm, and Richard Scarry's books about Lowly).

"This book should be called Cute Wormies," said my 4 year old, a pretty good summation of this charming, but not particularly deep (dig related pun) book.

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 do it 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.

In this beginning reader, two earthworms, one pink and the other tan, have five adventures gyrating through the garden. In the process, information about worms and how they help a garden grow is conveyed. To make their work more interesting, the worms sing a little ditty as they aerate the soil. They also have a picnic with dirt rolls, bug juice, and mud pies during a rainstorm. The simple illustrations enhance the humor and provide the graphic support that new readers need. This would be a wonderful companion to Doreen Cronin’s Diary of a Worm (HarperCollins, 2003). The book concludes with “Fun Worm Facts” and “How Worms Help Plants Grow.”

Where would gardens be without earthworms? Wiggle and Waggle by Caroline Arnold and illustrated by Mary Peterson celebrates these little critters in an endearing way that children will dig (pun intended). Divided into five short chapters, this book follows two worms as they industriously tunnel around in a garden, making up a song to make the work go faster. Then the duo takes a day off to enjoy a picnic of bug juice, dirt rolls, and mud pie, followed by a swim in a puddle left by a passing shower. A page at the end of the book explains in simple sentences how worms help plants grow and includes a few "fun worm facts," such as mentioning that the longest worms in the world grow up to 22 feet.

This chapter book showcases Wiggle and Waggle, the earthworms that work hard in the garden but also have fun. A page of worm facts and explanations of how worms help plants grow is included at the end. In five short chapters, they make up a digging song, contend with a big rock together, take a day off for a picnic, and get all muddy after the rain. Wiggle ends with a final chapter where he spells out their names with tunnels, and they get so excited, they have to sing their digging song again. Young readers will be captivated! The illustrations of both worms, expecially Waggle in his glasses, and their undergournd tunnels looping around all the vegetables in the garden are delightful! I really love the picture of them sleeping with little distended bellies after their picnic of dirt rolls, bug juice, and mud pies. This should become a favorite, and I hope we'll see more Wiggle and Waggle adventures. Recommended.

Wiggle and Waggle are worms that live in a vegetable garden. All day they dig and squirm around the roots of the plants. To make this hard work seem easier, they sing a digging song. They also discover that their digging helps the garden grow strong plants. In five easy chapters, the beginner reader can enjoy the friendship of these two worms as well as learn facts about the benefits worms bring to a garden. This would be a perfect selection to accompany a primary classroom's study of plants. The story includes the lyrics of the song the friends sing throughout the story, although it doesn't include the melody, it would be fun to make a simple song up and allow the students to sing along. This would make a nice addition to the simple chapter book collection.
Alexis Cuff, Library Media Specialist, Durham Nockamixon Elementary

Wiggle and Waggle are a pair of worms. They live in a garden that is full of vegetables of all kinds. The two worms work very hard digging tunnels around the plants, giving the plants room to grow. They know full well how valuable their work is, but they do sometimes find it hard going. In an effort to make their labors a little easier, Wiggle and Waggle start singing a song. It is amazing how much this helps, and soon enough all the rows of vegetables have been given their special worm treatment.

Of course the worms do take a rest sometimes, and when they do, they have a grand time. One day they have a picnic, and they also take the time to go swimming. The worms discover that work times and play times are made so much better when you have a friend by your side.

Children just learning how to read on their own will greatly enjoy flexing their reading muscles with this book. In all there are five stories about Wiggle and Waggle which are accompanied by numerous illustrations. The author has included a section at the back of the book where readers can find out how worms help plants to grow and some interesting “Fun Worm Facts.”