Darwin's Super-Pooping Worm Spectacular

I'd assumed that I was the only children's author who had read "The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms,' but Polly Owen has proven me wrong, and how! She breaks his story and research down (pun intended) and frames it perfectly for kids—Darwin loves worms and wants to convince others to as well, because he just "knew that worms were amazing." So he tests worms' senses one by one, until finally finding their "superpower".Owen's superpower seems to be taking a slimy subject like worms, and convincing readers of their special place in the world. But this is also an instructive story of experimentation (including all of its failures) and discovery. Informative, entertaining, illustrated perfectly and with humor—I'll be recommending this one to my own readers and only wish I'd known about it sooner.

Really fun read about Darwin's fascination with worms and his discovery of their "super power". Kids will love it! Science, history, nature mystery and a bit of EW!

This is a great book! It all about Charles Darwin’s experiments with worms and all the discoveries he made regarding worms (which seem to be all the basics we know now.) I didn’t know Darwin studied worms so I (a grown woman) found this book very educational. It has a worm narrator that pops up occasionally to ask questions which is entertaining. The illustrations are bright and colorful and draw young readers in. It has for speech bubbles which gives it the occasional comic book feel. My seven year old loves it and so do I. Great book.

This book is so much fun and very informative! The pictures are wonderful and it kept my 6 yrs old entertained throughout the whole book. The information wasn't too overwhelming for him and I found it to be a lot of great information also! I would recommend to anyone wanting to learn a little more about earthworms or Darwin! Hope you find this helpful!

I got this for my daughter (7 years old) because she's very interested in science and in history and she thinks the word "pooping" is hilarious, so this seemed like it would really be her thing.We read it together and although she seemed interested in Darwin's scientific experiments and the interesting facts about worms, the book didn't really grab her. After that first reading, she's never picked it up again and it's just been sitting on a shelf, unread. I think maybe it's because there's not an actual story she can relate to and the humor may be a little dry for her.I think it's a good book, but it was not a good book for her.

My 9-year-old said, "This book is super funny and super good, and also the illustrations are super neat." I agree completely.

If you have young boys, you are very familiar with their love of poop. Everything poop. Based on this, I figured this book would be a winner - and I wasn't wrong. They LOVED this book.The story is about Darwin's study of earthworms, told in a fun and colorful story format. The colorful illustrations are fun and well done. The worm himself makes an appearance and speaks directly to the reader to help explain things.As an adult, I found the book interesting as well, and actually learned some things about worms of which I was not aware!Who is this for?- Children ages 5-9 or so- Boys loved itPros:- Colorful- Good story- Interesting science information even for parentsCons:- A few pages had some dense text that 7 year old reader needed help with

Most kids love talking about poo. That's just the way most kids are. This book lets kids read about and talk about poo in a way that is educational and useful.The book describes Darwin's worm tests, the results of his tests, the public's response to the tests, Darwin's idea for how the information can be useful, and the public's response to the use he found for the poo.The only problem I had with the book is that in some parts the text is a faded-white text on black background, which is hard to read. The white ink isn't strong enough, so it's hard to make out some of the letters, and it's very hard to see the punctuation.

Review By E. Smith age 12.The first thing that captured my attention, was the wonderful illustrations. Especially the pictures of Worms and the way they are drawn with sunglasses on. The book itself is full of brilliant facts, which have stuck in my head. Not all books deliver information which is easily remembered. Overall fantastic and I would recommend it to anyone interested in Worms or Darwin. Although the book says 6-9 years, I think anyone who enjoys facts and a fun book will love it.

…make it this one! This is such a fun and fascinating read. And beautifully illustrated too. I lost count of the number of things I learnt (and obviously bluffed to my children that I already knew 😉). My 6 and 8 year olds were hooked from the very title and got more and more into it with every page, guessing along with what the superpower would be. They were firmly ‘Team Worm’ from the off. Will definitely be on the lookout for more of these in the future (and reading them myself first to help with my bluffing). So glad I bought this. It’s definitely sparked my daughters’ imaginations and nourished a new passion. Anyway, got to go – we’re going on a worm hunt, we’re not scared!

I knew about Darwin's contribution to the world of worms but I am amazed that his work has been made accessible to children in the form of a picture book. And accessible to adults who may not be inclined to read a Victorian scientist's work. As a child in the sixties, our teachers were always telling us how important worms were, I believe that idea came directly from Darwin and very little was done in the study of worms for many years. Today we have the highly motivated members of the Worm Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, studying and championing worms.A perfect book for young and old, with lovely illustrations. Every primary teacher should have a copy.

Well, who knew that the great man himself, Charles Darwin, spent so many years conducting bizarre experiments (think bassoon-playing to test their hearing) on earthworms?!! Author Polly Owen knew, and has obviously researched this fascinating picture book very well indeed. (Great references.) Grand daughter and I learned lots of amazing historical and earthwormy facts from this accessible texts. And we loved the illustrations by Gwen Millward - imagine earthworms in all sorts of amusing settings (We chuckled especially about the two taking tea in their burrow.) I'd recommend this to teachers and parents keen on giving 5- 9 year olds an entertaining lesson in ecology.

Darwin's Super-Pooping Worm Spectacular was an instant hit with my daughter. She found it hilarious. In her own words: 'Pooptastic and wormtastic! I loved it!' She and I both learned some fascinating facts and were charmed by the marvelous story accompanied by gorgeous illustrations. Highly recommend!