Why Dogs Eat Poop

October 1, 2013
Grades 1-4 Like Gould's Why You Shouldn't Eat Your Boogers (2013), this is a young-reader version of a similarly titled adult book. It leaves out chapters on sexual topics and some of the rawer content . . . but, no fears, there's still plenty left to astonish and disgust. In a Q&A format, the authors introduce such memorable creatures as the aptly named Dracula ant, a parrot that was the last speaker of an indigenous language in Venezuela, and a gallery of projectile power pooers that includes penguins and hornbills. They also present dozens of animal offensive and defensive strategies ( In tests, the western hooknose snakes were found to fart only when threatened ) and offer speculative but well-reasoned answers for some of nature's unsolved mysteries, such as the titular canine practice. Simply drawn cartoon critters in chapter openings and preview pages ( Coming up: babies who eat their moms ), along with the lack of back matter, signal this is intended strictly for recreational browsingbut who wouldn't benefit from knowing that turning a shark upside down will stun it, or that crocodiles will retreat when poked in the eye?(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)