Dirt Detectives: Wonderful Worms (Read-along)

Hi, it's Teresa from Dodge Nature Center, and today we have a great book to read together. It's called Wonderful Worms. It's written by Linda Glaser and it's illustrated by Loretta Karpinski. Read along with me as we read this great book. Earthworms are fat and wiggly like my fingers and toes. They live where it is cool and dark and damp, where roots spread out like underground trees. Worms feel sounds with their whole bodies. They feel thunder when I walk. They are wonderful diggers. They dig passageways and burrows, but they don't use shovels or fingers or toes. How do they do it? They eat their way through and move along. They stretch out long and thin and squeeze in short and fat. Stretch and squeeze. Stretch and squeeze. Eat and dig. Move and dig. Earthworms mix and turn the dirt as they dig and tunnel in the earth. They make the soil soft and airy so the roots of plants can breathe and grow. Worms don't have eyes or ears or a nose. They do have a mouth and they need food just like I do, but they eat dirt and rotting leaves. They swallow tiny pieces and inside the worms the food changes. When it comes out of their tail ends it makes the earth rich so plants can grow. Earthworms are my helpers, the underground gardeners. We work hard in the dirt in my garden, their home. The end.