The Truth About Poop [Mass Market Paperback]

Susan E. Goodman (Author), Elwood H. Smith (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2007 | Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up

We call it a waste product, but poop can also be bricks to build a house, fuel to power a trip to Mars, wipes for a baby?s bottom, buttons for your next sweater. Poop? YES! POP! And that?s not all. Birds drop it as bombs. Mole-rats use it as a password. Sharks track their prey with it. People cook with it, sculpt with it, and even use it as a Frisbee! While we politely avoid the subject, amazing things are happening in digestive tracts all over the world. Kids (and adults too!) will be captivated by the astounding facts contained in this fascinating book, featuring hilarious illustrations.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Step aside, Walter the Farting Dog. Science writer Goodman (Claws, Coats, and Camouflage) deserves a round of applause, and no raspberries, for demystifying a risky topic. With a winning combination of scientific curiosity and amusement, the intrepid author dives into her research. In a section titled "How Much?/How Often?," she gladly reveals the private matters of sloths, geese and bears. She finds that a skipper caterpillar "shoot[s] its poop... six feet" to misdirect predators, and that sharks hunt by scent (castaways should "poop in the life raft"). She chronicles human error and ingenuity in sewage disposal ("British plumber Thomas Crapper... certainly had the best name for the job" in creating the flush toilet, but was not its sole inventor), and she explores toilet paper substitutes from corncobs to a "cheap book of poetry" to "the frayed end of old anchor cables" aboard ships. In addition, she explains paleontologists' professional interest in "chunks of fossilized poop" called coprolites, suggests multiple uses for cow patties (kindling, Frisbees, bedding), discusses astronauts' euphemistic "maximum absorption garments" (aka diapers) and reveals military-strategic applications for "Dangerous Poop." While Goodman delivers the straight stuff about international and U.S. bathroom practices, demonstrating that scrupulous research can be fun, Smith (Raise the Roof!) creates vaudevillean cartoons that suggest their steamy subject but don't get too close. This scatological documentary could make a splash. Ages 7-up.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-5–Chock-full of intriguing, gross, and bizarre facts about animal and human excrement, Goodman's free-range text discusses everything from Tyrannosaurus rex dung to the evolution of toilet paper. The three main sections outline animal elimination practices, the processes of human excretion and plumbing, and helpful uses for poop (e.g., for fertilizer or scientific research). While the quirky organization and lack of an index may not make this a useful resource for research, the subject matter will capture kids' attention and draw reluctant readers. Even though the cover illustration of an elephant on a chamber pot may make browsers think it is a potty-training book, the rest of Smith's retro cartoons in muted colors provide humor without being too gross. This is Taro Gomi's Everyone Poops (Kane/Miller, 1995) for the "Captain Underpants" (Scholastic) set.–Rachel G. Payne, Brooklyn Public Library, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (January 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142409308
• ISBN-13: 978-0142409305
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8.4 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #103,460 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #14 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Sports & Activities > Humor > General
  • #31 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Biology
  • #41 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Anatomy & Physiology

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Here's the scoop on poop..., October 26, 2005

By 

S. Latta (Champaign, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Truth about Poop (Hardcover)

...it's a slam-dunk for this age group. My 12 year-old son, who generally considers himself "too old" for picture books, picked this one up and was immediately intrigued. It's got just the right blend of humor, straightforward information, and gee-whiz facts. (Did you know that the ancient Romans used pigeon poop to bleach their hair? Me neither!) The author does a fantastic job of explaining the science behind a topic that (like it or not) is of great interest to most kids. Not to mention a good many adults.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Science, May 16, 2005

By 

Carol O. Hurst (Westfield, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Truth about Poop (Hardcover)

The title is self-explanatory, and don't sniff and turn away from this one. (Pardon the pun.) It makes for fascinating reading even for the most fastidious reader. Although her touch is light, and it's impossible to read the book without grinning, Susan never goes for the cheap shot. She chuckles without smirking. Chapter headings include: Useful Poop, History of the Toilet Parts 1 and 2, Dung Dispatch, and Poop Power. Having trouble getting third or fourth graders to read a book? Put this one on the table and see how long it takes before a group of kids (probably boys) are gathered around absorbing scientific information.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poopalicious, October 27, 2004

By 

Elizabeth M. Cullen "commandante flower fairy" (san diego ca usa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Truth about Poop (Hardcover)

Goodman's witty prose raises the subject matter from the dregs of social life to a subject worthy for consideration. The book is funny and wry- and kids will beg to be read a page of it aloud as a reward system (works great in the classroom!) Chock full of mind-blowing facts, Goodman explores her subject from the cool to the gross to the downright bizarre. "There was life before toilet paper, and much of it wasn't pretty." The illustrations are an asset to the text, which is dense with fact but layered with enough levity and wonderment to appeal to the child scientist in all of us. A must-buy for all classrooms and libraries, and any home where parents speak frankly about how bodies work.