Before there was the Diary of a Wimpy Kid, there was another hilarious series of books written in diary format. But this one was for younger children (ages 4 to 8). Written by Doreen Cronin and illustrated by Harry Bliss, Diary of a Worm, Diary of a Spider, andDiary of a Fly, feature the journal entries of—you guessed it—juvenile bugs. They’re laugh-out-loud silly and fun reading for both kids and grown-ups. For example, the young worm in the first book writes about his sister: “My older sister thinks she’s so pretty. I told her that no matter how much time she spends looking in the mirror, her face will always look just like her rear end.” Just as entertaining are the cartoons with absurd details. I love the illustration of the worms doing the hokey pokey: “You put your head in. You put your head out…That’s all we could do.”

In Diary of a Spider, a young spider confesses: “Things that scare me: 1. Daddy Longlegs 2. Vacuums 3. People with big feet.” We find out that at school, young spiders learn about the dangers of vacuums and have vacuum drills. As with the two previous books, Diary of a Fly mixes informative facts with the silly scenarios. I, for one, learned something new: Did you know that flies eat regurgitated food? It’s a testament to their talent that Cronin and Bliss can make something icky sound so cute and charming. After reading these books, your kids may even be inspired to start journals of their own. 

I’m also a big fan of Cronin’s other series, illustrated by Betsy Lewin and featuring Duck and Farmer Brown’s barnyard critters. The Caldecott Honor book that started it all,

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, is still my favorite. It’s about what happens when the animals on Farmer Brown’s farm discover an old typewriter and start making their demands known. (This picture book was published 10 years ago, and it occurs to me that when you read it to children now, you’ll have to explain what typewriters are!) My second favorite of the series is Dooby Dooby Moo. Here, the animals outwit Farmer Brown and enter themselves in the County Fair Talent Show. I especially love how the cows and sheep sing songs we all know, like “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and “Home on the Range,” in their animal voices. Spoiler alert: Duck nails the competition with his rendition of “Born to be Wild” (“Quack, quack, quack, quuuaaaaaackk!”). Just thinking about it, makes me smile all over again.

Are you familiar with Doreen Cronin’s books? Which ones are your favorites?

Sandra Lee Rella, mother of two, is a freelance editor and writer, and a former children's book review editor.