How to Eat Fried Worms

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How to Eat Fried Worms

First edition cover
Author	Thomas Rockwell
Illustrator	Emily McCully
Language	English
Series	Children's novel
Publisher	Franklin Watts
Publication date	November 10, 1973
Media type	Print
Pages	115
Followed by

How to Eat Fried Worms is a children's book written by Thomas Rockwell, first published in 1973. The novel's plot involves a couple of young boys eating worms as part of a bet. It has been the frequent target of censors and appears on the American Library Association's list of most commonly challenged books in the United States of 1990-2000 at number 96.^[1] It was later turned into a CBS Storybreak episode in the mid-1980s, and a movie of the same name in 2006.

The story continues in two sequels: and .

Plot summary[]

Alan challenges Billy to eat a worm a day for 15 days. The winner gets $50. Tom prepares the worms in a variety of ways to make them more appetizing, using condiments such as ketchup, mustard, horseradish, and maple syrup. His parents eventually find out about the bet, but he is allowed to finish and eventually wins. Billy drives his newly-won mini-bike over to his usual lunch-spot and we hear that he's gotten so used to eating worms, he now can't stop.