Poopy Science: Getting to the Bottom of What Comes Out Your Bottom (A Gross Science Book): Guest review

The review was written by Grade 4 student Bradon M.

 

Written by Edward Kay

Illustrated by Mike Shiell

Kids Can Press

978-1-525304132

48 pp.

Ages 8-12

2022

 

The name of this book is what made me want to pick it up!  I have never really learned about poop and am always told we can’t do “toilet talk” since it isn’t polite. This book was finally my chance to learn all about poop. This non-fiction book will cover everything you want to know about poop…and maybe some things you don’t!  Each page has a couple of headings that are hilarious. For example, I really like “Funky Frass” and “Super-Duper Poopers and Tiny Turd Makers”. These headings made me want to read each section. Edward Kay's writing reeks of funny facts that now I can never unlearn, and I definitely learned a lot about poop!

From Poopy Science: Getting to the Bottom of What Comes Out of Your Bottom by Edward Kay, illus. by Mike Shiell

The disgustingly weird and funny cover page for this book made me want to read it right away. The pictures inside the book are just as entertaining because each one will make you explode with laughter. I couldn’t help but stare at some of the pictures. They were so outrageous. For example, there is a cartoon of a man picking his butt, another with a man riding on a flying toilet over the city who looked like he just had explosive diarrhea, and then one of a bear with a cork in his bum. The cartoons are really hysterical, but they are also really well done. You can tell that the illustrator, Mike Shiell, took their time. Each one is unique and eye-catching. This book definitely won’t be a waste of your time! 

From Poopy Science: Getting to the Bottom of What Comes Out of Your Bottom by Edward Kay, illus. by Mike Shiell

This book would be great for anyone over the age of seven. They will laugh at all of the pictures like I did and love the information they will learn. As I was reading the book, I felt I had to share every fact with my family…especially the gross ones! This would often cause a lot of laughter and some facts were shocking to them. When my family wasn’t around me reading Poopy Science, they could hear me laughing as I read each page. I loved this book so much that I think it should be in all classrooms, libraries, and bathrooms. My rating for this book is 5 poop emojis out of 5 💩💩💩💩💩!  A must read for everyone.  Pull up a stool and get a whiff of this book! 

~ Written by Bradon M., Age 9

 

• • • • • • •

Poopy Science is the latest book in the Gross Science Book series.

Stinky Science: Why the Smelliest Smells Smell So Smelly (2019)

Germy Science: The Sick Truth about Getting Sick (and Staying Healthy) (2021)

Poopy Science: Getting to the Bottom of What Comes Out Your Bottom (2022)

Linty: A Pocketful of Adventure

Written and illustrated by Mike Shiell

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-0494-1

64 pp.

Ages 6-9

May 2022

What kind of a life does a piece of lint have while tucked into the corner of a pocket, ignored by all, and oblivious to much? Well, author-illustrator Mike Shiell takes us deep into that pocket to find out.

From Linty: A Pocketful of Adventure by Mike Shiell

Day after day, a piece of link in the front pocket of a pair of jeans wakes up, does some cardio and some sightseeing and plays Solo Marco Polo. They are days of limited activities but it's all he knows. Then one day, the old jeans are passed on to a younger brother and everything changes for the amorphous lint.

From Linty: A Pocketful of Adventure by Mike Shiell

For the first time in forever, the piece of lint is joined by other entities. There's an acorn, a lollipop, a bottle cap, food and more. They give him the name Linty and want to know about him so he shows them what he does. In fact, they turn his game of Solo Marco Polo into a game for all and Linty declares it the best day of his life.

From Linty: A Pocketful of Adventure by Mike Shiell

Then Wash Day, something with which Linty is unfamiliar, arrives and everyone else is vacated from the pocket but Linty chooses to stay behind. After a tumultuous wash and dry–with a dangerous encounter with a lint trap–a fluffier Linty is missing his friends. Still he finds a way to get past his fear and look beyond his world in a new way to reconnect with them.

 

I've only known Mike Shiell from his illustrations in the non-fiction series Gross Science by Edward Kay and from his illustrations in Caroline Adderson' s Jasper John Dooley series so I'm so pleased that he's letting his own quirky and lighthearted writing shine along with his artwork in this early graphic novel. Mike Shiell blends a simple but cheeky story with playful artwork which will be enjoyed by early readers, ages 6-9, who are reading on their own but enjoy the illustrations that come with graphic novels. I'm sure they'll pick up on the pickle socks and cow underwear in the wash, the broken mustard packet joining Linty in the pocket, and the mess of a child's room. Most significantly, they'll have a different perspective on everything from what they put in their pockets, to the force of a washing machine and dryer, and even playing Marco Polo. In fact, I can just imagine wonderful lessons that could come with children delving into their own pockets. So, not only will young ones be entertained and laugh with Linty and his new friends, Linty: A Pocketful of Adventure will have them thinking about what's at the bottom of their own pockets and speculating about how that lint and other things spend their days there.

Marco?