Poopendous

Title: Poopendous!
Author: Artie Bennett
Illustrator: Mike Moran
Publisher: Blue Apple Books
Publication Date: March, 2012
Genre/Format: Non-fiction/Picture Book
Goodreads Summary: Rhyming couplets feature Professor Poopdeck and two young friends as he takes them on a type of poop safari. Words for poop (i.e. guano, number two, ca-ca), its forms and styles (cubes, tubular, wet and dry), and myriad of uses (i.e. souvenirs, a means of tracking and marking, housing insulation, food, fertilizer, fuel) are all conveyed with humor and a certain demand for respect. It's a book that says: Don't just flush this stuff away! While it may dismay and stink, there's more to this stuff than you might think!
What Jen Thinks: After reading and laughing over The Butt Book I was excited to see what Poopendous! had in store. It matched the rhyming silliness of it's predecessor. I like how this book opens up a conversation about poop in general and then teachers or parents can further the discussion with their children or students after that. I'll never forget seeing panda poop at the zoo when I chaperoned an 8th grade trip to Washington DC. It looked like a piece of poop made of woodchips/plywood because the only thing pandas eat is bamboo. Super interesting. Having little kids around the house, we also end up talking about poop at some point. Mainly, we talk about we want to have healthy poop which means we have to eat our veggies. If your poop comes out in little balls...it's not healthy poop...you need more fiber. Gross, maybe. Important, totally. You poop tells a lot about what you've been eating and about your health in general. Being vegan has led me to lots of discussions about what we eat and how our food affects us. Super interesting. I'm not sure how in depth I would want to go with kids and poop if they weren't my own, but this book could start that discussion if you're up for it.
What Kellee Thinks: A funny, light-hearted book filled with facts about poop and all of its uses. Told through a fun, rhyming, jingle-like verse and narrated by a quirky professor, the book is guaranteed to inform and entertain. It is a great example of how an author can take a topic that they want to teach their readers about and do it in a way that seems like they aren't learning. It is a secret of many teachers for years- make learning fun and students will actually learn it. 
     To be honest, I was surprised that the book didn't mention the new elephant dung paper products you can buy many places now.
Read Together: Grades K - 6
Read Alone: Grades 3 - 6 
Read With: The Butt Book by Artie Bennett, Chicken Cheeks by Michael Ian Black, Marty McGuire Digs Worms by Kate Messner,  You: Staying  Young by Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz (Dr. Oz from Oprah)
Snatch of Text: 

"Poop is yucky, poop is foul.

Step in poop and you will howl.

To read this book, you must be strong.

Just hold your nose and come along!"

Reading Strategies to Practice: Author's Purpose, Activating Background Knowledge, Making Connections, Asking Questions
Writing Strategies to Practice: Rhyme, Expository
Writing Prompts: There are many things in this world that do not seem to have a purpose, but actually do. For example, mud daubers, a type of wasp that just annoyingly makes mud huts on the side of houses, actually kills black widows helping us humans out. Research something that you think doesn't have a purpose and find out why it actually exists and what it does to help the Earth/humanity.
Topics Covered: Poop, Guano, Dung Beetles, Termites, Manure, Health, Integration - Science/Body, Rhyme

Jen *hearts* It: 

Kellee *hearts* It: 

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