Worm loves Worm, and they agree to marry. Seems simple enough, until the bug brigade gets involved. The bespectacled Cricket declares the worm couple needs someone to marry them, and he volunteers to officiate. "Now can we be married?" asks Worm. The moustachioed Beetle says they need "a best beetle" for their wedding. "Now can we be married?" asks Worm. Cricket tells the couple they must have wedding rings. "But we don't have fingers," says Worm. They agree to wear the gold rings like belts, which end up looking like gilded collars. "Wonderful," says Worm. "Now we can be married."
Not so fast! The "bride's bees" need to know which worm will be the bride, and the best beetle needs to know who the groom is. Turns out, both will be both, one worm wearing a white veil and a bow tie, the other in a top hat and white cape. "Wait! says Cricket. "That isn't how it's always been done." Worm and Worm are okay with that. "And so they were married... because Worm loves Worm." Children don't need to have same-sex marriage on their radar to enjoy this gender-bending tale, nor do they need to know that worms are both male and female (though that's clearly a fun fact for anyone). The bottom line here is, love conquers all.
J.J. Austrian's entertaining refrain "Now can we be married?" makes for a fun read-aloud, and his lively story is the perfect mate for the cartoonish crew of busybody bugs by illustrator Mike Curato (Little Elliot, Big Family). --Karin Snelson, children's & YA editor, Shelf Awareness