How to Eat Fried Worms

How to Eat Fried Worms
Author: Thomas Rockwell
Publisher/Date:Bantum Doubleday Dell Books 1988
# Pages: 115
Reading Level: 3rd Grade
Genre: Fiction/Comedy

Summary:

This story begins with a bet. Alan bets Billy 50 dollars that he couldn't eat 15 worms in 15 days. He gets the first few down without a problem as long as he drowns them in ketchup, mustard, and other dressings. Alan and Joe get apprehensive, and they try a few things to trick Billy to try to make him lost the bet. For example, they glue two night crawlers together to gross him out, they make him think that the worms will make him sick, they pretend to write a note from his doctor saying that the worms can kill him, they take him to a baseball game all day to try to make him forget to eat a worm that day, and they make a fake worm out of beans. However, none of their tactics work and Billy does eat 15 worms in 15 days, winning the bet.

Who would benefit from reading this book?

I think this book would be especially appealing to young boys. The four main characters are boys who do gross, boyish things like bet each other to eat worms. It's an easy, fast read that anyone can enjoy if they have a strong stomach.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially create?

The only problem I could see this book potentially creating is the fact that the boy eats big fat worms. It might make kids think they can eat them if they wanted to. Other than that, I don't think this book would cause any problems.

My Reaction:

I wanted to read this book because of the title. It intrigued me to think of eating fried worms. Reading it totally grossed me out, and I never want to see a night crawler again. I think this book would be most enjoyed by young boys who find bugs and worms cool.