What books are similar to How to Eat Fried Worms?

The 10 closest matches to How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell on ReadingList include The Best School Year Ever, The Last Straw, My Teacher Is an Alien, Wayside School Is Falling Down, and Dogtown. Each is scored on shared themes (humor, friendship, and school), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 3–6), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like How to Eat Fried Worms reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 3–6), so the picks stay grade-appropriate. See how ReadingList judges text difficulty on the /standard methodology page.

How does ReadingList choose similar books?

Matches are ranked by shared themes, shared award and reading-program lists (two books picked for the same state award were chosen by the same committees for the same readers), same genre, comparable Lexile and grade band, and publication decade — computed from cited public curriculum data, not editorial opinion or AI-generated summaries.

Books like How to Eat Fried Worms

If you liked How to Eat Fried Worms, read The Best School Year Ever, The Last Straw, or My Teacher Is an Alien — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Closest match: The Best School Year Ever by Barbara Robinson — shares humor and school

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Looking for books like How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell (Humor · grades 3–6)? It’s most often read for its themes of humor, friendship, and school. The 10 titles below are the closest matches in the ReadingList database — each scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level, and each linked to the curricula, states, and grades where it’s assigned, with primary sources.

These are reading-level matches, not just topical ones — so the picks stay grade-appropriate for a grades 3–6 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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The Best School Year Evergrades 3–6: Shares themes of humor and school, both on the Hawai'i Nēnē Award list (+2 more shared lists), and same genre (Humor). Amazon → books like this →
The Last Strawgrades 4–7: Shares themes of humor and school, both on the Wisconsin Golden Archer Award list, and same genre (Humor). Amazon → books like this →
My Teacher Is an Aliengrades 3–6: Shares themes of humor, friendship, and school, both on the Hawai'i Nēnē Award list, and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon → books like this →
Wayside School Is Falling Downgrades 3–5: Shares themes of humor, friendship, and school, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (3–5). Amazon → books like this →
Dogtowngrades 3–6: Shares themes of humor, friendship, and courage, both on the California Young Reader Medal list (+2 more shared lists), and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon → books like this →
Rodrick Rulesgrades 4–7: Shares themes of humor and school, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (4–7). Amazon → books like this →
The Superteacher Projectgrades 3–6: Shares themes of humor, friendship, and school, both on the South Carolina Children's Book Award list, and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon → books like this →
Diary of a Wimpy Kid950L: Shares themes of humor, friendship, and school, both on the Wisconsin Golden Archer Award list, and overlapping grades (3–7). Amazon → books like this →
The Legend of Rock Paper Scissorsgrades 2–8: Shares themes of humor, both on the California Young Reader Medal list (+1 more shared list), and same genre (Humor). Amazon → books like this →
A Royal Conundrumgrades 3–6: Shares themes of humor and friendship, both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon → books like this →

Books like How to Eat Fried Worms for younger readers (K–2)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps K–2— same scoring, different audience.

The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey · 720L — Shares themes of humor, friendship, and school and overlapping grades (2–5).
Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary · 750L — Shares themes of school, both on the Hawai'i Nēnē Award list (+1 more shared list), and overlapping grades (2–4).
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume · 470L — Both on the Arizona Grand Canyon Reader Award list (+2 more shared lists), overlapping grades (2–5), and the same era (1970s).
Dog Man by Dav Pilkey · 390L — Shares themes of humor and friendship, both on the Wisconsin Golden Archer Award list, and overlapping grades (2–5).
The Guardian Test (Legends of Lotus Island #1) by Christina Soontornvat · grades 2–5 — Shares themes of friendship and courage, both on the South Carolina Children's Book Award list, and overlapping grades (2–5).

Books like How to Eat Fried Worms for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 3–5— same scoring, different audience.

Double Fudge by Judy Blume · grades 4–6 — Both on the Hawai'i Nēnē Award list (+1 more shared list), same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (4–6).
When the Boys Ran the House by Joan Davenport Carris · grades 3–6 — Both on the Iowa Children's Choice Award list (+1 more shared list), same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (3–6).
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling · 880L — Shares themes of friendship and courage, both on the Arizona Grand Canyon Reader Award list (+2 more shared lists), and overlapping grades (4–7).
The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of courage, both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), and overlapping grades (3–6).
The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman · grades 3–7 — Shares themes of friendship and courage, both on the Hawai'i Nēnē Award list (+1 more shared list), and overlapping grades (3–7).

Books like How to Eat Fried Worms for middle school (grades 6–8)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 6–8— same scoring, different audience.

Double Fudge by Judy Blume · grades 4–6 — Both on the Hawai'i Nēnē Award list (+1 more shared list), same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (4–6).
When the Boys Ran the House by Joan Davenport Carris · grades 3–6 — Both on the Iowa Children's Choice Award list (+1 more shared list), same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (3–6).
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling · 880L — Shares themes of friendship and courage, both on the Arizona Grand Canyon Reader Award list (+2 more shared lists), and overlapping grades (4–7).
The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of courage, both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), and overlapping grades (3–6).
The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman · grades 3–7 — Shares themes of friendship and courage, both on the Hawai'i Nēnē Award list (+1 more shared list), and overlapping grades (3–7).

Books like How to Eat Fried Worms for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 9–12— same scoring, different audience.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares · grades 7–10 — Shares themes of friendship and both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list).
Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt · grades 7–10 — Both on the Arizona Grand Canyon Reader Award list (+1 more shared list).
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer · grades 7–10 — Both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list).
Romiette and Julio by Sharon M. Draper · grades 7–10 — Shares themes of courage and both on the Young Hoosier Book Award list.
A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh · grades 11–12 — Same genre (Humor).

Common questions

What books are similar to How to Eat Fried Worms?: The 10 closest matches to How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell on ReadingList include The Best School Year Ever, The Last Straw, My Teacher Is an Alien, Wayside School Is Falling Down, and Dogtown. Each is scored on shared themes (humor, friendship, and school), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 3–6), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like How to Eat Fried Worms reading-level appropriate?: Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 3–6), so the picks stay grade-appropriate. See how ReadingList judges text difficulty on the /standard methodology page.
How does ReadingList choose similar books?: Matches are ranked by shared themes, shared award and reading-program lists (two books picked for the same state award were chosen by the same committees for the same readers), same genre, comparable Lexile and grade band, and publication decade — computed from cited public curriculum data, not editorial opinion or AI-generated summaries.

Book data last updated 2026-09-05. Matches are computed from each book’s cited attributes — see the methodology.

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