Carl and the Meaning of Life
Written by Deborah Freedman
Illustrated by Deborah Freedman
Reviewed by Ryan A. (age 9), Jack P. (age 8), Sebastian E. (age 9) & Hudson B. (age 9)
Have you ever wondered why you are here? We all have meaning in our life. This book is about an earthworm named Carl that wants to know the meaning of his life. He wants to know why he does what he does and why he’s here. He goes and asks all the animals “why do I do what I do?” they all say “Well, what I do is….” Like the fox says, “I am here for the hunt” and the rabbit says , “I do what I do for my babies.”. Eventually, the grass stops growing, the ground turns dry and all the animals go away to find better place to survive. Carle notices that the ground is as hard as a rock. He goes back to his work burrowing, tunneling, digesting dead leaves, feasting and casting”. Then he finds out his meaning of life which is to help other animals survive by helping to make good soil for plants to grow.
This book has a lot of different kinds of lessons. One important lesson in this story is even a small action can make a big difference. Also, everyone has a different meaning of life. It depends on the person (or animal). Another lesson is that every animal helps the earth in their own way. Also, everyone can help with something in their own way.
This book is good because it had many great lessons. Also, it was unique because it shows how even if you are small you can make a big difference in the earth or any way. This is a good book because it is a deep story and we like deep stories. (Ryan and Jack)
We would recommend this book to people who like nature. Also, to someone who wants to know the meaning of life.