Superworm

Julia Donaldson’s irresistible comic bravura tempered by Axel Scheffler’s anxiously edgy artwork is well in evidence in this latest picture book in which a worm is her chosen hero – Superworm no less. Superworm who is ‘super-long’ and ‘super-strong’ is a tremendous force for good, rescuing a baby toad from being run over, serving as a skipping rope for bees who want to play and saving a beetle from drowning in a well. But disaster strikes! The sinister Wizard Lizard uses his magic powers to kidnap Superworm and then forces him to tunnel for hidden treasure. Superworm’s friends must get together to devise a cunning rescue plan…

Donaldson’s jolly rhyming text (‘Action! Quickly! At the double! /Superworm’s in frightful trouble!’) is punctuated with Scheffler’s intense and dramatic unfolding of the visual narrative in vignettes, full page spreads and action sequences as the enterprising friends ‘jump and fly and crawl and creep…’ to the Lizard’s lair where they plan to rob him of his magic powers and release Superworm. Tension builds and young readers will be on the edge of their seats! Another triumph for the duo who created The Gruffalo.