There's a Hair in my Dirt! by Gary Larson - First Edition Children's Books - Biology Book, Humor Book, Earthworms, Teachers

First edition of There's a Hair in my Dirt! by Gary Larson. A Mother and Father Worm help their son understand why the hair in his dirt...er, dinner...is actually a delicious clue to how important worms are to the planet.

Written and illustrated by Gary Larson. 1998 stated first edition, first printing. HarperCollins Publishers.

Foreword by biologist Edward O. Wilson:

"Attention, fellow Larsonites! This is a serious book. It's about an earthworm family, a comely maiden, and what really goes on in the natural world. What better author than America's Aesop to tell us the truth about the little creatures that run the earth? Who better qualified to explain ecology than the madcap sage of the biological sciences whose extravagantly admired cartoons already festoon laboratory bulletin boards across the land? And what better way to present the subject than by elevating the creatures to our line of sight, not by lofting them to eye level but by bringing our chins to the ground?"

The story begins:

"Beneath the floor of a very old forest, nestled in among some nice, rich topsoil, lived a family of worms. Earthworms, to be exact.

One evening, the three of them - father, mother, and their little worm son - sat down to their usual dinner: dirt.

They had just begun to dine when the little work, staring wide-eyed at his meal, suddenly spit out his food and screamed,

THERE'S A HAIR IN MY DIRT! THERE'S A HAIR IN MY DIRT!

And sure enough, there it was - plain as day. They could all see it.

At first the little worm was horrified, but soon that gabe way to being just plain mad.

"I hate being a worm!" he screeched, his tiny body trembling. "We're the lowest of the low! Bottom of the food chain! Bird food! Fish bait! What kind of life is this, anyway? We never go swimming or camping or hiking or anything! Shoot, we never even go to the surface unless the rains flood us out! All we ever do is crawl around in the stupid ground. Oh, and how can I forget? We eat dirt! Dirt for breakfast, dirt for lunch, and dirt for dinner! Dirt, dirt, dirt! And look - now there's even a hair in my dirt! The final insult - I can't stand it any longer! I HATE BEING A WORM!"

Mother Worm was quiet. She'd tried her best. Father Worm, a proud member of their Annelida phylum, was highly annoyed by his ungrateful son.

"My boy, I think it's time I tell you a story."

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful Nature-lover named Harriet who lived in the woods. Blah, blah, and she died. The stuff in between is hilarious. But it's also educational. Larson explains why a variety of animals AND worms are important in the scheme of things. It's a circle of life thing.

Condition*: Near Fine/Near Fine. The front and back cover boards show hard-to-see sunning along the tops. The dust jacket has some minor shelf and edgewear.

* Based on guidelines of the Independent Online Booksellers' Association.

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