The Big Question, answered: What Do They Do With All That Poo?

What Do They Do With All That Poo?, by Jane Kurtz/Illustrated by Allison Black, (June 2018, Simon & Schuster), $R17.99, ISBN: 9781481479868

Recommended for readers 4-7

We all know that I’ve got the sense of humor of a -year-old kid, so you know this book is a hit at home and in the library for me. It’s an honest-to-goodness nonfiction book about POO, and what happens to poo once it’s… pooped. This book can be readable in two different ways: there’s a fun, rhyming text about different animals and how they poo, and how poo contributes to science; there’s also more complex text about different animals and their varying gastrointestinal goings-on.

Kids are going to scream at the pictures – the one of the hippo, using its tail to create a “dung shower” to mark its territory, had my living room in an uproar. Kids get to see different scats for different animals, sure, but the big thing here is what happens to it after it’s collected and boxed up: it’s donated to science! Turns out, there’s a lot to do with all that poo: veterinarians and scientists study it; it’s turned into compost, to help vegetable and flower gardens grow (and keep pests away); it’s even recycled and turned into paper!

With bright, big-eyed animals, fun rhyming text, and short, direct nonfiction explanatory text, What Do They Do With All That Poo is a smart STEM/STEAM add to your libraries and bookshelves. Do not miss this one; your inner 5-year-old demands it.

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 11 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, 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.

Want to win your own copy of What Do They Do With All That Poo?, courtesy of Beach Lane Books? (U.S. addresses only, please!) Check out this Rafflecopter giveaway!