Dropping pellets of fact about its nature, production, variety, and manifold uses, Davies builds a good case for the idea that dung is “probably the most useful stuff on the planet.” He analyzes styles, sizes, uses, and smells in fascinating chapters that cover the territory. Though Layton’s crudely drawn cartoon illustrations provide more jocular side commentary than actual information, this breezy introduction will give young readers with a certain tolerance for (or attraction to) the yuckier side of natural history the scoop on poop—at least in the animal kingdom. For more on the human side, pair this with Susan Goodman’s The Truth About Poop, illustrated by Elwood H. Smith (p. 393). (Nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-7636-2437-3
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2004
Soft colors and small, rounded figures in Narahashi’s paintings add extra appeal to this alphabetic horsey ride. Leaping atop her rocking horse, Amos, a young daydreamer crosses a “bumpity bridge” with a “clippety clop,” gallops through fields, up and down a hill, and back to the “extra dry” barn as sunny skies give way to rain clouds. The partly rhymed text, with featured uppercase and lowercase letters in boldface, creates an evocative rhythm to underscore the playful pretend outing. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 4, 1999
ISBN: 0-374-30001-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
Greed has no bounds for this bully goat and his insatiable black bag in Tompert’s tale, which is not so much cumulative as it is avaricious. On market day, Ole Goat is on the prowl; from anyone he encounters he demands their goods, or “I’ll pitch you down this mountain with a butt from my bony, bony head.” One after another, the wares belonging to owl, rabbit, and fox go into the evermore capacious black sack: “There’s always room for more. . . . I’ll never have enough,” howls Ole Goat. By the time the goat challenges a bear who has nothing but his hat to tender, the grasping creature trips over the bloat and winds up in a mud puddle. Tompert’s text offers a crisp backhand to the pox of greed, while Chwast’s artwork is highly demonstrative and engaging. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-89418-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
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