What Do They Do With All That Poo?
S&S Beach Lane Books | Written by Jane Kurtz | Hardcover + Softcover Format | Published June 2018
There are so many different kinds of animals at the zoo, and they each make lots and lots (and sometimes LOTS!) of poo. So what do zoos do with all of that poo? This fact-filled romp explores zoo poo, from cube-shaped wombat poo to white hyena scat, and all of the places it ends up.
The first half of What Do They Do With all That Poo? introduces a variety of zoo animals and describes their scat. The manuscript is playful but based in science, and I wanted the art to reflect this. The animals are sweet and animated and their surroundings are vibrant and stylized, but every scene is based off real-life animals, their natural environments.
The second half of the book focuses on what zoos do with all this poo? I created a diverse cast of zoo keepers who sweep, wash, and truck away mountains of poop, as well as an underground split scene showing how worms break down feces into fertilizer for plants!
Countless zoo books line the shelves, but how often does one discuss animal manure—and how a zoo discards it? Black's wide-eyed, expressive animals have personality, but they never cross over to cartoony garishness. ....A scatological success. (Kirkus April 2018)
“…Young readers going through a bathroom-humor stage should enjoy the topic and the book’s light tone but, whether appreciative, awed, or grossed out, all will come away informed.” (Publishers Weekly April 2018)
2020 Magnolia Book Award by Mississippi Children’s Museum
2020 Towner Award Nominee
2019 Maryland Blue Crab Young Reader Award Honor Book
2019 Winner Oregon Spirit Book Award in Non-Fiction
2019 Texas Library Association 2x2 Reading List
2018-19 Winner Kentucky Bluegrass Award Master List for K-2
2018 AAA/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Book Finalist
Amazon #1 New Release in Children’s Recycling & Green Living Books