Who Gives a Poop?: Surprising Science from One End to the Other

by Heather L. Montgomery, Iris Gottlieb (Illustrator)

Overview

Follow scientist Heather L. Montgomery into science labs, forests, hospitals, and landfills, as she asks: Who uses poo?

Poop is disgusting, but it’s also packed with potential. One scientist spent months training a dog to track dung to better understand elephant birthing patterns. Another discovered that mastodon poop years ago is the reason we enjoy pumpkin pie today. And every week, some folks deliver their own poop to medical facilities, where it is swirled, separated, and shipped off to a hospital to be transplanted into another human. There’s even a train full of human poop sludge that’s stuck without a home in Alabama!

This irreverent and engaging narrative nonfiction book shows that poop isn’t just waste—and that dealing with it responsibly is our duty.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781547603473
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	09/08/2020
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	952,852
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.32(h) x 0.82(d)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Heather L. Montgomery has taught for over 20 years (both inside and outside the classroom) as well as directed a school-based environmental center. She has written curriculum; trained hundreds of teachers, naturalists, and librarians; and, helped thousands of children to make friends with the natural world. Each year, she works directly with over ten thousand children at festivals, school visits, and at environmental centers. During a typical presentation, petrified body parts and tree guts encourage scientific thinking and inspire reluctant readers. Her professional development programs for teachers have won awards and rave reviews. She lives in Ardmore, Alabama.

www.heatherlmontgomery.com/

Editorial Reviews

A well-stirred slurry of facts and fun for strong-stomached “poop sleuths.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"A well-researched read. Children will delight in the gross factor and deepen their understanding of the scientific process. . . . equal parts informative and grotesquely fascinating. Highly recommended for public and school libraries." - School Library Journal, starred review

“The discoveries that arise from our flattened fauna will amaze you! . . . For all the literal blood and guts. . . there's nothing rotten about this book—it's a keeper.” —Starred review, Kirkus Reviews on Something Rotten

“With wry humor, gory detail, and great enthusiasm, . . . this book is not for the faint of heart, but be prepared to laugh along the way and to learn a lot. . . Sure to be a hit among students. A top addition to STEM collections.” —Starred review, School Library Journal on Something Rotten

“. . . [A]n extremely interesting treatise about roadkill and how it affects all our lives. . . . Montgomery inspires curiosity, asks excellent questions, and makes science and investigating roadkill fascinating to learn.” —Starred review, School Library Connection on Something Rotten

“[B]udding naturalists or eco-activists will find it a smashing read.” —Booklist on Something Rotten

From the Publisher

★ 11/01/2020

Gr 4–8—Nature and science can provide entertainment and a sense of wonderment. Young readers interested in the "ick" factor will appreciate Montgomery's exploration of all things scatological. Chapter titles include "Hunk of Tongue" and "Poo-Poo Choo-Choo." Montgomery's descriptive, engaging prose makes readers feel as though they are front-row companions on her scientific journey: "The air between us almost prickles. Me, the animal lover with a bird pendant hanging from my neck. Him, the trophy hunter with real heads hanging from his wall." The footnotes are extensive, but at times are personal and humorous, adding an inviting tone. Gottlieb's expertly drawn illustrations are spare. The annotated bibliography is thorough. Overall, Montgomery provides a well-researched read. Children will delight in the gross factor and deepen their understanding of the scientific process. VERDICT This narrative stomp through animal poop is equal parts informative and grotesquely fascinating. Highly recommended for public and school libraries.—Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine P.L., WI

School Library Journal

★ 2020-06-16
A biologist digests her own observations and those of other researchers studying poop’s properties, products, and potential.

“Once I put my poo goggles on,” the author writes, “I found fecal fun everywhere.” Picking up more or less where her Something Rotten: A Fresh Look at Roadkill (2018) left off, Montgomery continues to convey her devotion to decomposition with breezy visits to labs and landfills, conversations with scat specialists, and thoroughly detailed up-close and personal notes on encounters with dead animals, guts, and writhing intestinal fauna. Piling evocative chapter heads like “Hunk of Tongue” and “Stool to Fuel” atop essays redolent with puns and double-entendres, she adds unusual nuggets of insight to her disquisitions on fertilizers and fecal transplants: the significant role dinosaurs and other prehistoric “megapoopers” played in seed dispersal, hints that certain parasitic worms may be as good for us as certain species of intestinal bacteria, and the notion that artificially preserving endangered species isn’t automatically a good thing. Along with occasional diversions to, for instance, point out the environmental impact of palm oil’s near ubiquity in our food and consumer goods, she further indulges her wide range of interests in footnotes on nearly every page and a closing resource list bulging with analytical commentary. Neither the scanty assortment of photos nor Gottlieb’s decorative pen-and-ink vignettes include human figures.

A well-stirred slurry of facts and fun for strong-stomached “poop sleuths.” (index, activities, synonym chart, annotated bibliography) (Nonfiction. 11-14)

Kirkus Reviews