Worm Makes a Sandwich
by Brianne Farley; illus. by the author
Primary    Putnam    32 pp.
2/25    9780593697801    $18.99
e-book ed.  9780593697818    $10.99

Worm acknowledges very early on that he can’t actually make a sandwich—he is a small worm without hands, after all. What Worm can do, and with great enthusiasm, is eat garbage and poop it out to make a nutritious base for dirt in the garden that will grow vegetables for the promised sandwich. The lone human child in the story constructs a compost bin and fills it with plant-based food scraps, while Worm makes eye contact to ask for our patience and shares his favorite dirt recipe: “a little of this, a little of that, and compost.” We watch as the seeds for future-lunch are planted and slowly grow, while Worm’s refrain of “I’m sorry, but the [garbage / dirt / poop] is not for your sandwich” tamps down expectations of eating anytime soon. Under midsummer storm–darkened skies, Worm’s doubts set in: “GUUHHHHH!...Why did you ask a worm to make you a sandwich in the first place?” Then the sky clears, and the star of summer (and lunch) emerges on the vine: a ripe, round tomato. This ode to compost is neither preachy nor grody, and Worm is such a charming guide to the growing season that it’s easy to forget he didn’t actually prepare any sandwiches. Lush, cheerful watercolor and pencil illustrations are complex but not busy, and plants and critters are labeled with hand-drawn lettering. Back matter explains the nuts and bolts of composting.

From the ">May/June 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.