Winnie Finn, Worm Farmer
Written by Carol Brendler; Illustrated by Ard Hoyt

Winnie Finn is an ardent earthworm fan. She knows everything about them and enjoys taking care of her worm farm. Sadly there is no prize for best earthworm at the county fair, so she has to find other ways to show people how special and important earthworms truly are.

Biographical Sketches:
Carol Brendler earned a master's degree in writing for children and young adults at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She lives in Ottawa, Canada with her husband and four cats. Winnie Finn, Worm Farmer is Ms. Brendler's first published book.

Ard Hoyt was born in Temple, Texas. As a very young child he discovered that "even though he wasn't allowed to cross the street, he could go anywhere in a picture book." As he grew older his ambition became to have a picture book that he illustrated shelved alongside the classics that he grew up with. In 2001 he graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. To date he has illustrated over fifteen children's books including two New York Times Best Sellers. He lives on a farm in Bentonville, Arkansas with his wife and three daughters.

Suggested Activities:

1.  Research types of worms (earthworms). How do they help the soil? How do they move through the soil? Etc.

2.  Take a field trip to a local state or county fair. Have students tour the exhibit hall to see the types of things that people bring.

3. Research the history of county/state fairs.

4. Make a worm farm (directions may be found in the back of the book).

5.  “See” Like an Earthworm - Without eyes, worms see using a sense of touch. Children can experience this through a simple sensory game. Adults can gather basic natural items, such as small twigs, rocks, and pinecones, and keep them in separate bags. (When collecting items, make certain there are no sharp edges.) Invite the children to reach in each bag without peeking, and feel for the item, therefore “seeing” like a worm. Have the children try to guess what the item is after experiencing it using only the sense of touch.

6.  Use the events in Winnie Finn to practice sequencing. (I.e. Winnie gets corn to give to chicken farmer to trade for eggs to give to owner of puppies.)

7. Make a "dirt cake" using gummy worms. (Many different recipes can be found online.)

8.  Have students create their own things and have a classroom fair where everyone can see each others' special talents. (Make sure there are enough awards that each child can win something.)

Companion Books:
Apelhof, Mary. Worms Eat my Garbage: How to Set Up and Maintain a Worm Composting System. Flower Press. 1997.
Bruel, Robert. Bob and Otto. Roaring Book Press. 2007.Glaser, Linda. Wonderful Worms. Milbrook Press. 1994.
Cronin, Doreen. Diary of a Worm. HarperCollins. 2003
Himmelman, John. An Earthworm's Life. Children's Press. 2001.
Hoffman, Mary. Clever Katya: a Fairy Tale from old Russia. Barefoot Books. 2005.
Kalman, Bobbie. Life Cycle of an Earthworm. Crabtree. 2004.
Loewen, Nancy. Garden Wigglers: Earthworms in Your Backyard. Picture Window Books. 2003.
Madison, Alan. Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly. Schwartz & Wade. 2007.
Pfeffer, Wendy. Wiggling Worms at Work. Collins. 2003.
San Souci, Robert. Brave Margaret: An Irish Adventure. Aladdin. 2002.
Waldman, Debby. Clever Rachel. Orca Books. 2009.

Books illustrated by Ard Hoyt:
Anderson, Laurie. The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School. Simon & Schuster. 2009.
Casanova, Mary. One-Dog Canoe. Square Fish. 2009.
Casanova, Mary. Some Dog. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2007.
Casanova, Mary. Utterly Otterly Day. Simon & Schuster. 2008.
Demas, Corinne. Saying Goodbye to Lulu. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 2009.
Layne, Steven. Teachers' Night Before Halloween. Pelican. 2008.
Lithgow, John. I'm a Manatee. Simon & Schuster. 2007.
Sklansky, Amy. My Daddy and Me. Cartwheel. 2005.
Spradlin, Michael. Daniel Boone's Great Escape. Walker Books for Young Readers. 2008.
Weis, Carol. When The Cows Got Loose. Simon & Schuster. 2006.

Websites:
Earthworm information and activities: http://urbanext.illinois.edu/worms/index.html  

Worm activity site: http://yucky.discovery.com/flash/worm/ 

Ard Hoyt's website: http://www.ardhoytbooks.com/  

Dirt cake recipe: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,196,139179-238206,00.html