The Scoop on Poop: The Fascinating Science of How Animals Use Poop

by Wayne Lynch

Selected as an "Our Choice" book by The Canadian Children's Book Centre Short-listed for the Hackmatack Award Did you Elephants poop enough to fill the trunk of a family car ... every day? Fossilized poop is called coprolite and scientists have found coprolites even older than the dinosaurs? Termite colonies use their own poop to help build castles as tall as a house? Award-winning author and photographer Wayne Lynch takes a fun and scientific look at poop in the animal world. Children will be fascinated to find out that some wild animals eat their dung, others use it to send messages or mark their territory, and some even squirt it on themselves to cool off! Filled with amazing facts, animal stories, and color photographs, The Scoop on Poop will change the way you look at droppings forever. So join Dr. Lynch as he dishes out the scoop on poop, facts on feces, tips on turds, data on dung, and the goods on guano.

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Shawn Thrasher · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm going to preface this review with a disclaimer -- I'm a grown up. I can attempt to read a book with a child in mind, but I can't read this as a child. So I think an 8 or 9 year old boy or girl would probably dig this book - let's face it, most kids love to read about and discuss poop. I don't think I would necessarily buy this as a gift, but I certainly would check it out from my local library for a kid.

So from my grown up persective, I was really disappointed. I usually like books of trivia and weird facts, and the 8 year old boy in my giggled and said "POOP!" I think this is the push to create children's books that appeal to the gaming generation. Books, particularly nonfiction books, have to bright and shiny and full of fun fonts and different colors and stock photography of animals doing crazy things, like sticking their tongues out or pooping. It's just like a web page, and kids love web pages, right?

But do we really have to sacrifice writing for style? Maybe Ms. Cusick is a terrific writer, and she was pigeonholed into producing this crappy (ha ha) book. I don't know - this is my first attempt at readig one of her books. But I thought the writing was choppy and poorly edited, and sort of forced. There was always so much going on on every page that it as hard to figure out what to read first.

Maybe that's what kids want. But I've been reading now for about 35 years now. I think I'm a pretty good reader. And I was having trouble. So let's say I'm 8 years old again, and I try to read this book. Seems to me it would be sort of difficult. Seems to me I'd end up looking at the pictures mostly, and skipping the text.

I may be wrong. Maybe I'm just too old.