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GET THE SCOOP ON ANIMAL PUKE by Dawn Cusick

GET THE SCOOP ON ANIMAL PUKE

From Zombie Ants to Vampire Bats, 251 Cool Facts About Vomit, Regurgitation, & More!

by Dawn Cusick

Pub Date: Sept. 9th, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-62354-045-6
Publisher: Imagine Publishing

The prominent cover image of a bulldog with a pool of puke at its feet will cause kids with a gag reflex to retch, while those into the gross will chortle with glee.

Unfortunately even the latter category will find this, a companion to Get the Scoop on Animal Poop (2012), to be an unsatisfactory stew. The table of contents seems to indicate a careful assemblage of digestible facts including “Toxic Puke Defense,” “Indigestible Puke,” “Baby Pukers” and so on. However, some comments seem incomplete or misleading, starting with one in the introduction: “You may think of puking as a bad thing: it makes your stomach hurt and smells gross. In the animal world, though, vomiting helps animals in many ways.” This seems to suggest that there is a difference between humans and animals and that humans do not benefit from vomiting, yet the reasons we do are covered in a later chapter. “Puke Defense” states that some animals defend themselves and their young with vomit. Cool, but inquisitive readers will not find a definite explanation: Do they spew on predators as a weapon or on themselves to become unsavory? “Cud Pukers” introduces the concept of a four-chamber stomach, yet the role of the second chamber is not covered, nor are chambers labeled on the diagram.

Some children will dig in, but most will leave it unfinished.

(glossary, research source notes, further reading, indexes) (Nonfiction. 7-10)