In an attempt to cheer up a sad-looking worm, a narrator makes things worse by causing the worm to cry. But in the process of trying to make the sobbing worm feel better, the narrator starts to think of the various ways tears can be used productively.

For example, if you’re sad around lunchtime, cry until you fill a pot with your tears and boil pasta — you won’t even need to season with salt! Crying can be used to dilute paint, and with paint, you can make beautiful art. Crying also serves lots of different purposes. Without tears, the rivers would dry up. Clouds would keep getting bigger and bigger. And crying also helps the pears to grow, and with pears, you can make jam. Jam makes people happy, and can help staunch the flow of tears . . . at least until the jam runs out!

Ages: 3-7