2008 2 x 2 Booklist (1)

Bob and Otto by Robert O. Bruel

Bob the caterpillar, and Otto the earthworm are best friends and enjoy doing things together: they eat leaves that fall from the tree, they dig, and play in the grass. One day, Bob feels the need to climb the tree and Otto decides to dig deep under the tree. High up on the tree, Bob gets hungry and eats to the point that he falls asleep. As he sleeps, a cocoon envelopes his body and he turns into a butterfly. Otto eats the rotted leaves underground and keeps on digging some more. They both start to miss each other and Bob flies down as Otto digs up. As they see each other,Otto feels sad and wished he would have climbed up with Bob and turned into a butterfly. Bob tells him he did an important job by loosening the earth while he was digging and making the tree healthy. Bob explains that if it weren't for him he would not have been able to eat the tree's leaves and grow wings. This is a beautifully illustrated book that enhances the story by splitting Bob and Otto's actions parallel to each other. The students are able to view the caterpillars life cycle into a butterfly and how the earthworm is different and not changing except getting bigger. They will be able to understand how important each one is to each other. I highly recommend this book to lower grades as an enrichment in Science.