Battle of the Butts: The Science Behind Animal Behinds

by Jocelyn Rish, David Creighton-Pester (Illustrator)

Overview

Did you know manatees swim using farts? Or that herrings communicate by passing gas?

Butts are used for breathing, eating, swimming, talking, and even killing in the animal kingdom. Focusing on ten different animals and their derrières, and offering fun facts about their origin, habitat, and "posterior power," this hilarious book captures the wonder of our ecosystem. Which animal has the coolest butt power? That's up to you to decide! 

An MASL Dogwood Reader's Award Title
Towner Award Winner
2024 Texas Topaz Nonfiction Reading List Selection

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762497782
Publisher:	Running Press Book Publishers
Publication date:	11/02/2021
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	967,790
File size:	31 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jocelyn Rish is a writer and filmmaker who never imagined her cheeky sense of humor would lead to a book about animal butts. When she's not researching fanny facts, she tutors kids to help them discover the magic of reading. Jocelyn has won numerous awards for her short stories, screenplays, short films, and novels and lives in South Carolina with her booty-ful dogs.

David Creighton-Pester is an illustrator and designer from Hamilton, New Zealand. Inspired as a child by picture books, animation, and all things arty, he spent endless hours drawing crazy characters and coming up with silly stories. And still does now! David is also the owner of Scorch Design, a graphic design company he started in 2009. You can see more of his illustration work at www.davidcp.com.

Editorial Reviews

"The book is a gas. Ripping good fun!"
 —Kirkus Reviews

"If ever a science book begged to be read aloud, this is it, and the competitive approach to its crowd-pleasing topic will engender plenty of discussion and debate."—Booklist

"Silly cartoon illustrations and a punny text convey a butt load of information about unusual behaviors (herring 'communicate through farts') and anatomies (a Sonoran coralsnake's butt looks like its head, which tricks predators). A 'Butt Bonus' feature with each entry adds related material."—The Horn Book Guide

"This hilarious book by Jocelyn Rish is full of awesome facts that kids are sure to retain, accompanied by artist David Creighton-Pester’s colorful and expressive illustrations."—Red Tricycle

"Recommended for general purchase for public and elementary school libraries; a perfect nonfiction choice for reluctant readers."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

12/01/2021

PreS-Gr 2—Butts, hineys, and bottoms are battling it out. Readers are expected to rate 10 talented tushies from varying species in the animal and sea life world. The Pudgy Pooter manatee uses its farts to help with swimming. When it wants to go to the surface, it holds its gas in, and when it wants to go back down, it lets gas out. Herrings, or the Toot Talkers of the underwater kingdom, communicate with one another through farts. Wombats, known in this competition as Tough Tushies, mark territory with their poop, which is uniquely shaped as cubes. Spreads of each of the 10 talented derrieres present the animals in their natural habitats. Detailed information about the creature is shared in a fun and relatable way that will appeal to kids. The habitats are depicted in beautifully colored illustrations of the ocean, desert, or underground. Readers can use a scale to decide the rating of an animal's bottom—from terrific tushie to boring backside. More difficult scientific terminology is bold in the text and defined in the glossary. VERDICT Recommended for general purchase for public and elementary school libraries; a perfect nonfiction choice for reluctant readers.—Kristen Todd-Wurm, Middle Country P.L., NY

School Library Journal

2021-08-18
This book about butts will make young readers smart assimilators of knowledge.

What do you give a curious child in the throes of the potty-humor stage? This book might be an option. Readers will be introduced to 10 creatures from around the world that use their posteriors in unusual ways. Learn how the tiny herring cuts the aquatic cheese to signal its position at night to other herrings in its school—and how those watery toots almost started a war between nations. Or learn why the beaded lacewing is a deadly houseguest for termites across North America. Each chapter follows a uniform format: introducing key facts, like the species’ name, size, and habitat range in a blob-shaped callout box set on top of an appealing double-page illustration. The following double-spread discusses on verso the creature’s delightful derriere and how it provides a natural survival advantage, with a bonus fact below the informative paragraphs; opposite, a full-page illustration provides some humorous context above a feature inviting readers to rate that creature’s butt on a descending scale from “terrific tushie” to “boring backside.” There is no bibliography or further-reading suggestions—which is a real bummer—so curious readers looking for more information are on their own. That aside, the book is a gas.

Ripping good fun! (glossary) (Nonfiction. 8-10)

Kirkus Reviews