Review_CHILDREN’S
54 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ MARCH 8, 2021
Review_CHILDREN’S
Where Do You Poop?
Agnese Baruzzi, trans. from the Italian by Maria Russo.
MineditionUS/Russo, $11.99 (16p) ISBN 978-1-66265-042-0
As the animals portrayed in this board book head to do
their business, each is asked a revealing question: “And where
do YOU poop?” A blue cat perched over a litter box answers
in rhyming text, “When I have to go/ My eyes start to glitter/
At the calm, lovely sight/ Of my dear kitty litter!” On another
spread, an elephant displaying its derrière answers, “When
that big rumbling starts/ I know just what’s the matter/ I plop
it on the ground/ With a glorious clatter!” Alongside satu-
rated cartoon illustrations by Baruzzi, interactive pull-out
tabs show the reader each animal’s yield—a neat coil for the
kitty, a “thin line” for a goldfish. The pull tab pivots away
from sharing scat for the last shown routine: a white-skinned,
brown-haired child on a toilet of their own. A demonstrative,
normalizing call for young readers to embrace their own
bathroom ritual via the porcelain throne. Ages 1–3. (May)The Poop Song
Eric Litwin, illus. by Claudia Boldt. Chronicle, $15.99 (40p)
ISBN 978-1-4521-7950-6
“Everybody’s pooping all day long. That’s why we sing the
pooping song.” Hilarity abounds in this silly songbook about
excrement that exhorts children to use the potty. Opening
with a mischievous orange-and-yellow-striped cat in a litter
box and pooping mountain goats
clambering over rocks, text invites
readers to join in the song, while
vibrant gouache illustrations by
Boldt depict an array of animals:
“Polar bears poop in the freezing
cold snow. Dinosaurs pooped a long
time ago.” Though “everybody’s
pooping around” various habitats, four human children of
varying ethnicities are shown “pooping in the potty” and fol-
lowing up with “a happy sound. FLUSH!” Both catchy and
educational, musican Litwin’s signature rhymes should inspire
kids, albeit limited to binary “BIG BOYS and BIG GIRLS,”
to take the toilet leap. Ages 2–4. (Apr.)Don’t Say Poop!
Jimmy Matejek-Morris, illus. by Fred Blunt. Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt, $9.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-358-42333-1
In this book of tongue twisting alternatives to common
rude words, “LIKE POOP,” a brown-skinned child with
curly blue hair presents a plethora of phrases that will draw
giggles from young readers. Joined by a goofy cast of
expressive, emoji-like poops and anthropomorphic animals,
such as a gray elephant clad in purple underwear, the childurges the reader to consider more creative phrases than the
prosaic booger, burp, and butt. In lieu of the titular poop, for
example, the narrator suggests “humdrum bum crumbs,
float-or-sinker, major stinker, sometimes mushy from your
tushy, smelly belly funky jelly.” As text by Matejek-Morris
rollicks along, scratchy art by Blunt adds to the chaotically
comic effect, reminding readers that bathroom humor and
its ilk can be good clean fun. Ages 4–7. (Apr.)Where Does My Poo Go?
Jo Lindley. DK, $14.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-7440-2147-9
Following a child’s poo from flush onward, Lindley draws
on her architectural design background to produce techni-
cally accurate spreads that depict each step of the sewage
cycle. After a child flushes their poo (“TA-DAH!”), the
waste joins “your neighbor’s neighbor’s neighbor’s poo” in
sewers and a sewage plant—featuring “The Battle of the
Bugs” (bacteria)—traveling all the way to its return as
nutritious soil and clean water. (“So, the next time you
flush the toilet, say hello to the ghost of your old poo!”)
Key words and easy-to-follow diagrams guide readers
through the cycle, discussing the whys and hows of reusing
and recycling (sludge can be used to power “machines, gad-
gets and gizmos”), and offering clear information for readers,
who are likely to emerge no longer considering poo a number-
two issue. Ages 5–7. (Mar.)A Day in the Life of a Poo, a Gnu, and You
Mike Barfield, illus. by Jess Bradley. Aladdin, $16.99 (128p)
ISBN 978-1-5344-6721-7
This wide-spanning illustrated reference guide offers
bite-size introductions to “a day in the life” and the “secret
diary” of 100 things on Earth ranging across the human
body (“pee, pimples, poo, and a whole lot more”), the animal
kingdom (limpets, “Mega Marsupials”),
and earth and science (“Fab Fungi,”
clouds). Filled with colorful comics
panels displaying such items as an
anthropomorphically angry pimple,
Barfield keeps the information enter-
taining without overwhelming, while
“the bigger picture” sections offer
extra detail in digestible prose
(“Bones make up around 20% of your body’s weight”).
Illustrations by Bradley, meanwhile, keep visual gags
rolling. Expressive characters help to break up text-heavy
segments, and a nonlinear approach makes this volume just
right for young fact aficionados to pop into and out of. Back
matter includes a glossary of terms used throughout. Ages
7–10. (Mar.)The Poop Scoop
Five books expose the truth behind poop.