GEE WHIZ!

Hoping for a follow-up to The Truth about Poop (2004)? Urine luck! Here Goodman and Smith pool their talents once again, producing streams of facts about how pee is produced in the body, how it is used—by humans for cosmetics, medicines and other products, and by animals as a weapon, a means of communication, or a source of nutrition—and the past and future of waste disposal. Readers will wriggle with pleasure as they discover how knights and astronauts took care of business; explore the toilet arrangements of vampire bats, hibernating bears and camels; learn what future restrooms might be like, and much more. Liberally splashed with Smith’s cutaways, diagrams, pop-eyed figures and cartoon dingbats, the pages are redolent with both wisecracks and well-digested research. A browser’s delight, good to the last drop. Resource list at the nether end. (Nonfiction. 6-9)