McBookwords - Blog: Hidden Treasures - Information in Picture Books

Reviews from The Bookwoman and The Kid Reader

Hidden Treasures - Information slipped cleverly into the best of the best books.

What Do They Do With All That Poo? by Jane Kurtz. Illustrated by Allison Black. 2018. PreS-3. 40 pages. Beach Lane Books. ISBN: 978-1481479868.
No Frogs in School. by A. LaFaye. Illustrated by Églantine Ceulemans , 2018. PreS-3. 40 pages. Sterling Children's Books. ISBN 978-1454926986.

Photo Credit: a selfie (twofie) by Jane Kurtz and Alexandria LaFaye (2018)

These two authors are awesomely clever at giving young readers a lot of information while also giving them a very readable fun text to enjoy.

Jane (Kurtz) writes about the droppings (otherwise known as poop, dung, scat, and so forth), the animals that leave this poo for the zoo to do something with. Some poo is green, some droppings are in the shape of cubes, and others are like marbles. And what do zoos do with all that poo? Well there are all sorts of recycling that goes on. And along the way young readers will learn that poo from herbivores and carnivores is treated differently -- and one young reader is sure he will never eat zucchini again. This book will provide a lot of hidden information that an attentive parent or educator will enjoy helping the young reader to discover and discuss.
You might enjoy the kid reader's (Pryor Optimus) YouTube video featuring this book. The Mystery Box - https://youtu.be/V5uDt0UBDfU
and https://youtu.be/eDqvRES42CA as Pryor Optimus gives book readers a preview of the What Do They Do With All That Poo?.

Alexandria (A. LaFaye) gives us a rollicking fun book about Bartholomew Botts who loves pets, all kinds of pets, and has a difficult time leaving them while he goes off to school so he decides to tuck Ferdinand the Frog into his cool pink lunchbox (yes, pink - Information #1: "GG is Bartholomew a girl or a boy?" "What do you think?" "Well the author said, 'he' but the lunch pail is pink and Bartholomew has a pink sweater in his bedroom." "Well 'he' means male. Do you think a boy could have a pink sweater and a pink lunchbox?" "Well, yes." "Then what do you think?" "He's a boy who likes pets... and likes pink." "Okay so there you have it.").
Bartholomew causes a ruckus with his frog - -so frogs are banned from school. But Sigfried the salamander wasn't a frog, but the ensuing chaos brings about a ban on amphibians (Information #2 : Critical characteristics of amphibians are enumerated when Mr. Patamoose declares all reptiles are banned.) Additional pets, and episodes, result in the banning of reptiles, ... and eventually anyone's pet. But in the end Bartholomew Botts figures out a way to take a pet to school. Readers will learn many things by reading (or listening) to this tale of Bartholomew Botts, including that boys can like pink and are clever enough to figure out which animals are forbidden and which are allowed in the classroom.

Ah the fun these two books give to young readers.

An enthusiastic 5 stars for both of the books from the Bookwoman,