If You Are a Kaka, You Eat Doo Doo

SARA MARTEL endured innumerable close encounters with poop during her eleven years as a zoo-keeper at the St. Louis Zoo. Mostly these were from species dear to her, including the multiple fly-by poopings she received from rainbow lorikeets. She served, too, as an assistant field biologist helping with seabird research for organizations including the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Sara has since written about wildlife conservation efforts for regional and national publications including Sierra, National Wildlife, Birder's World, Birding, and the Boston Globe Magazine. Her husband Rick, along with Scout the dog and Maverick the cat, heard countless dinner-time poop tales during this book's writing. SARA LYNN CRAMB grew up in the Great Lakes region where she spent much of her time adventuring in the woods, drawing, playing with four-legged friends, and reading picture books. She has created illustrations and designs for numerous educational books, interactive signage, posters, and children's books. Sara shares her home with her husband, two grumpy turtles, a pair of mischievous cats, and far more books than one person should own. Her children's book illustrations include 50 Things You Should Know About the Human Body and Smithsonian Young Explorers Fact Book and Puzzle.

"Who knew there could be so many words for animal poo? Feces, scat, meconium, guano, frass, honeydew—and their relatives, defecate, cloaca, anus, anal tube—not only are there many words, there are many uses for poo in the natural world. In this appealing celebration, a wide and wonderful range of animals explains how they use fecal material for communication, defense, cooling, decoration, and even food. Each spread focuses on a different species. These animals directly address readers, using the words "we" and "why" to explain its habits. Speech bubbles explain details in the digital illustrations, and an additional paragraph or two, in a smaller font, add further information. The cast of characters includes creatures from around the world. From hairy-nosed wombats to doodlebugs, there are familiar species, such as chickadees and sloths, and unusual ones, such as golden tortoise beetles, blind cave salamanders, and shoebills. Most pages show more than one creature, and each is unusually well-identified—even with Latin names—in an index illustrated with thumbnail images. The backmatter also has a glossary of italicized words used in the text, including that impressive array of synonyms, and an essay describing human uses, including the possibility of poo-powered planes. Doo-doo rush out to get copies; these will shoot off the shelves. (Informational picture book. 5-9)"