Poop Happens: Don't Waste the Poop

 

Poop happens! There is no doubt about it, but while humans may find poop smelly and disgusting, some animals actuallly LOVE it!

Don't Waste the Poop!

Ready-To-Read  Level Two

By Marilyn Singer

Illustrations by Heather Fox

Simon Spotlight

An imprint of Simon & Schuster

 2025

32 pages 

ISB: 9781665971997

Clever cover design features "Poop" front and center in all its glory with an exclamation point to boot, and being held in the air by a dung beetle (who happen to LOVE poop!) Kids will laugh, and parents will appluad when they read the back cover "Level 2 Reader" which is a superstar reader. That is enough to make this book flly off the shelf, but as the infomercials say, but wait! There's more!

Brilliant placement of the glossary in the beginning of the story will help readers along. Be sure and read the glossary first to understand all the words used for poop: scat, dung, feces, manure, guano, and in some cases, pellets. 

Rabbits eat their own poop! Ewwwwwwww! They eat hay and grass all day which is hard for them to digest, so their pellets stick together (once pooped) to make a sort of "poop soup" easy for them to digest. 

Some animals use their own poop as a defense. A sparm whale will release a "poopnado" to disguise where they are hiding. The male hippo spreads his poop out all over his territory. It keeps away other males and also may llure females who like the "stench." 

Brimming with fascinating facts about poop, kids wil absolutely love Don't Waste the Poop! 

Highly, highly recommended for reluctant, yet emergent readers. This might ber THE book that turns reluctance into joy! 

Ages 5 and up. 

Cute Rhino: Meet Reba

 

Meet Reba

By Stephanie Wheeler

Illustratrations by Annika Chambers

Spinning Wheel  Stories

2025

42 pages

ISBN: 9781967113002

Reba is an adventurous, spunky rhino who loves to try new things. She can do them “all by herself.” She takes great pride in doing hard things and drawing on her inner strength. She can swing so high it seems like, “her hooves hit the clouds.” She can read books by herself even when the words are new because she can sound them out. She can even play frisbee all by herself (which is an incredible feat! Throwing it and then running fast enough to easily catch it?) Reba is truly an amazing rhinoceros.

One day, Reba decides it is time to ride a bicycle. This is a true test for the unstoppable Reba. She tries to balance but crashes. She tries to get a running start and jump on. BAD idea. Olive, a little bird and Reba’s constant companion tries to help. Reba tries again and again and finally listens to her friend Olive. 

Meet Reba is a picture book with a huge heart that embraces friendship and knowing when to ask for or accept help. Even independent rhino Reba learns it’s okay to listen and learn. 

Savvy young readers will point out that Reba is not alone. Olive is clearly a part of of her world. New words like “momentum” and “haunch” are introduced. Laugh out loud giggles will erupt when kids hear about Reba’s rhinoceros rump and kids will feel for her when she tries to ride a bike but continues crashing.

 Whimsy and fun are celebrated in award-worthy illustrations by Annika Chambers; psst, get ready for picture book awards season. Kudos to publisher and author for beautiful endpapers showing Reba trying all the things and doing them all by herself.

 A special page follows and explains how some animals co-exist and help each other. The symbiotic relationship between rhinos and ox-peckers benefits both animals.  

FIVE huge stars for Meet Reba. Highly, 

Highly recommended ages 1 and up!,