What Do They Do With All That Poo?
by Jane Kurtz: Illustrated by Allison Black
Beach Lane Books (June 19, 2018)
Nonfiction * Animals * Zoos
Audience: Ages 4 to 8
Indiebound | WorldCat
Description from GoodReads: Find out what happens to all of the poo at the zoo in this funny and factual picture book!
There are so many different kinds of animals at the zoo, and they each make lots and lots (and sometimes LOTS!) of poo. So what do zoos do with all of that poo? This zany, fact-filled romp explores zoo poo, from cube-shaped wombat poo to white hyena scat, and all of the places it ends up, including in science labs and elephant-poo paper—even backyard gardens!
Quick thoughts on the book:
I haven't yet had a chance to bring this book into school and use it as a read aloud with a group of children, but all I can think about is how I am going to get past the title and the front cover? Poop is one of those topics that is guaranteed to produce laughter. Lots and lots of laughter.
Of course, it only gets funnier because Kurtz does a fabulous job with describing the poop of various animals. And when paired with Black's illustrations, the giggles and belly laughs are likely not to stop. For me, it was a toss up between the hippo shower spray of dung and the wombat's cube-shaped droppings.
Once you get beyond the laughter, this book is filled with lots of great facts about "manure, scat, droppings, dung, castings, and guano". Did you know that snakes only poop once a year? Or that sloths climb down from their tree once a week to poop? But what fascinated me the most was the answer to the question on the front of the book. "So what do zoos do with all of that poo?" You might just be surprised to find out about all of the things that they do with animal poo.
Look for a copy of What Do They Do With All that Poo? at your local indie bookstore or community library. Or enter the Rafflecopter below to win a copy of What Do They Do With All that Poo?
About the author: Jane Kurtz was born in Portland, Oregon (where she now lives), but when she was two years old, her parents decided to move to Ethiopia, where she spent most of her childhood. Jane speaks about being an author at schools and conferences—in all but eleven of the United States, so far, and such places as Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, France, Germany, Romania, Russia, Oman, England, Indonesia, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Japan. She helped start Ethiopia Reads (EthiopiaReads.org), a nonprofit that is planting libraries for children and printing some of the first easy-reader books in local languages in Ethiopia. She is the author of many books for children, including Water Hole Waiting and River Friendly River Wild, winner of the SCBWI Golden Kite award for picture book text. To learn more, visit her website: janekurtz.com. Twitter: @janekurtz
Giveaway!
One lucky winner will receive a copy of What Do They Do with All That Poo?, courtesy of Beach Lane Books (Must be 13 years old or older and have a U.S. address to enter).