Poop

July 26, 2019

PreS-Gr 2-A raccoon and a mouse mosey down the street, accumulating friends and words that rhyme with poop. Raccoon enjoys the frisson of saying the word poop-a feeling many kids will understand-so he uses it a lot. Mouse patiently redirects every time, using a rhyming word. "Nope, coop," Mouse offers as they meet up with the denizens of a hen house. A visual hint to the rhyme appears on each preceding page, allowing for predictions and some extra focus on word families. The illustrations display a goofy charm, with an array of retro outfits; a tiger sports stripes and suspenders and the bevy of chicks could be extras in Grease. Some of the hints and redirections fall a little flat-children probably won't guess the rhyme "loop" from the image of swirling yarn and they won't find the new vocabulary thrilling. But a game reader should be able to provoke hysterics in storytime, as Raccoon repeats the title utterance with increasing vigor. When Raccoon's ice cream ("scoop!") falls to the ground, the favored word finally, sadly, suits the moment. For literal readers, a squatting pug on the last page delivers the goods. VERDICT Silly and slight, with considerable potential for readers interested in shouting "POOP!"-Robbin E. Friedman, Chappaqua Library, NY

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 15, 2019
A raccoon drops a silly word over and over and OVER...but a little mouse will have none of it. Set up to be a hilarity-inducing storytime back and forth, this monosyllabic all-caps exchange alternates an overalls-clad and increasingly frustrated raccoon provocatively misidentifying round objects with the titular epithet in louder and louder type and the poker-faced mouse (with a page turn) offering contradictory, rhyming counters. First, after the raccoon points at an egg and says, "POOP," a squad of nattily dressed chickens marches out of a "NOPE, COOP." Then a ball of yarn forms a "NOPE, LOOP," and then a bear sinks a basketball through a "NOPE, HOOP," and on, as characters pile up. Finally the crowd of followers at last stops at an ice cream truck for a "NOPE, SCOOP" (or two or three or four). And when, in a turn likely to excite as much honest dismay as schadenfreude in young audiences, the raccoon's ice cream falls to the ground, the mouse answers his dismal "POOP" with a sympathetic "YEP." The growing parade of simply drawn, egg-shaped animals in Hoffmann's cheery illustrations adds both comical side business to keep readers poring over the pages and a clear sense of anticipation to the proceedings, and a pug in the last scene delivers a final, literal twist. A crowd pleaser sure to squeeze out piles of giggles. (Picture book. 3-10)

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