Just a Worm: A STEAM Picture Book About Nature, Interdependence, and Celebrating Individuality for Kids (Ages 4-8)

After being called “just a worm” by two children, Worm embarks on a journey around the garden to prove them wrong. Debut author-illustrator Marie Boyd seamlessly incorporates concepts of nature, natural selection, habitats, and interdependence in this picture book beautifully illustrated with a cut-paper technique called quilling.

Worm isn’t “just a worm,” no matter what anyone says. Worm is special! Right? Worm sets out across the garden to prove it, interviewing one garden inhabitant after another. Butterfly seems to have all kinds of important qualities—as do Snail, Dragonfly, Ladybug, and Spider. But what can Worm do? What makes Worm special? Maybe Worm is just a worm after all . . . and what’s so bad about that!

This STEAM-themed picture book explores the many wonderful and unique ways in which Worm and friends contribute to the garden and work together to make it grow. Just a Worm celebrates everyone’s individuality and highlights the importance of interdependence—how it’s necessary for a stable, collaborative, and healthy environment. Using the ancient craft of quilling, Marie Boyd meticulously created each illustration out of strips of colored paper that she shaped, layered, and glued to produce a lush three-dimensional world.

Just a Worm is a great read-aloud for family sharing and is a terrific choice for classrooms where the concepts of nature and the natural world are introduced, as well as for teaching social skills such as collaboration and empathy.

Includes a quilling craft for young readers, facts about earthworms, a glossary, and a special message to readers from Worm. 

Marie Boyd studied chemistry in college and is a law professor at the University of South Carolina. An expert in cosmetics and food regulation, she loves spending time outside, whipping up new creations in the kitchen, and―of course―quilling. Her first book for children, Just a Worm, was called “an engaging, informative narrative” by Kirkus Reviews. Marie Boyd lives in Columbia, South Carolina, with her family.