Whose Poop Is That? by Darrin Lunde (review)

The can-you-guess format, so often put to engaging effect in science-focused picture books, works well here in an introductory brainteaser on animal droppings. Each bit of scat gets a four-page spread: the titular question, with animal tracks; the, ahem, main event, with a brief description (“It has bits of bone and a tuft of fur in it”); and a full-bleed spread with the animal and an explanation of how its poop came by its unique composition (“A red fox eats small mammals and birds. It crunches their bones and swallows their fur or feathers”). Though inconsistent scale and oversimplification of the footprints often put guessers at a disadvantage, pictures are sufficiently simplified and stylized to help viewers focus on the essentials. The succinct text, in slightly oversized sans serif font, makes this as accessible to newly independent readers as it is to younger listeners, and everyone with an interest in the unflushed will be intrigued by the back end matter (pun fully intended)—bullet-pointed “The Scoop on Poop” and “Animal Poop Facts.”