Wonderful
Wriggly Worm Rides Again
“Wriggly
Worm! Have you
finished tidying up yet?
There’s to be no clutter at
all in that tunnel of yours.
Do you hear me, Wriggly?”
THE FAMILIAR WORDS OF A MOTHER TO A YOUNGSTER show that in the world of Wriggly
Worm, nothing is any different to how it is in millions of homes throughout
the country. Eugenie Summerfield has created a character to which children can
relate and there are some well-observed human traits that translate well into
the stories.
Wriggly Worm was first introduced on BBC Radio's Listen With Mother, when he
was described in The Daily Telegraph as the show's "best loved character" and
Wonderful Wriggly Worm Rides Again is the second collection of the adventures
of the cheeky, adorable Wriggly Worm and his charming garden friends.
On his first appearance in a book (in October, 2006), Wriggly Worm was welcomed
by both The Sunday Express and BBC7 and he has since 'wormed' his way into the
hearts of young children everywhere — and, if the truth be known, has a
goodly number of adult admirers, too!
Illustrated with the occasional delightful black-and-white drawing,
the 28 stories that make up Wonderful Wriggly Worm Rides Again involve
Wriggly's friends — including Anthea Ant, Dr Daddy Longlegs, Brown Snail,
Cirencester the Stick Insect, Crawly Caterpillar, Hairy Scary Spider, Victory
Worm and Lucretia Ladybird — in a number of interesting, sometimes risky,
adventures.
In the first story, Wriggly Worm goes on a nature trail to find a rare flower;
but for the second he is pressed by his mother into tidying up his tunnel. Other
adventures include being mistaken for a piece of talking bacon rind by a seagull
and dealing with an imposter (these days there's identity theft in the insect
kingdom, too!) pretending to be him. He meets a TUCID — Tidying-Up-Cut-It-Down
— machine and also becomes a Time Lord in order to rescue young Sidney
Snail.
So who is it who is brave enough to visit dangerous and secret places to seek
a cure for Sloppy's sluggy flu? And who can outwit the thieving Grubby Grab
Snatchity? Or rescue a little Brown Snail when he is trap-ped in a scary dark
Time Tunnel? Why, it's Wriggly Worm, of course!
Wonderful Wriggly Worm Rides Again by Eugene Summerfield is available
now, published by Book Guild Publishing (February 2008). RRP £11.99. ISBN 9781846241970.
A bumper issue of charming Wriggly stories that "deserves to be up there with
the children's classics" — Head of Programmes, BBC7.
• Eugene Summerfield began her writing career
creating stories for BBC Radio Children's Programmes such as Listen With
Mother, Let's Join In and Listening Corner. Eugenie has also
written for the Yorkshire TV's My World programme, as well as a number
of children's story books. She has also been a tutor for adult creative writing
courses in the North East and in Gloucestershire, where she now lives.
“Wriggly
Worm! Have you