Last month the news broke that “at least five” new J.D. Salinger novels are on the way. The New York Times reported that, according to a new movie and book, both bearing the title Salinger, the new Salinger novels and/or short stories will start being published in 2015. Some of the new books will “extend past work,” which probably means we will find out more about those mopey, brilliant Glasses.

But forget about Buddy and Zooey and, um, Boo Boo. That’s all well and good, but this year has brought far more exciting news: We’re going to find out more about a character with a much more interesting inner life: Lowly Worm! That’s right—a new Richard Scarry book is on the way! In fact, it drops next week.
 

The great brooding antihero of twentieth-century children’s literature: Lowly Worm
 
Called Richard Scarry’s Best Lowly Worm Book Ever, the new book is based on unpublished “sketches and text,” according to The Guardian (UK). Scarry died in 1994—after publishing more than 300 delightful picture books for children populated with all manner of friendly cats and bears and foxes and so forth—and the new book has been completed by his son, Huck Scarry, who like his dad is also an illustrator.

I can remember poring over my surely dog-eared copy of Busy, Busy World like it was yesterday. Something about the playful, generous, gentle, jam-packed images rewarded my lengthy perusal like few other books did. I definitely appreciated the emphasis on all the different countries, too.
 

 
As you wait for The Best Lowly Worm Book Ever to hit your local bookstore, you can check out the always amusing Busytown Police Blotter or brush up on your counting skills by watching “Richard Scarry’s Best Counting Video Ever!”
 

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Bad Little Children’s Books
Dr. Seuss, radical environmentalist: ‘I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees’