Poo, Spew and Other Gross Things Animals Do!

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By: Nic Gill, Romane Cristescu Illustrated by: Rachel Tribout

eBook - April 2022 - eRetailers

Take a deep breath and step into the world of all the gross things animals do to survive and thrive.

This book stinks… we think you'll love it! + Full description

Poo, Spew and Other Gross Things Animals Do! will show you how being gross isn't just hilarious – it can be an important survival strategy for animals all over the world.

Take a deep breath and step into the world of not just poo, but also spew, snot and all the other gross things animals do to survive and thrive. From using poo to build a nest, leaving stinky secretions to find a mate, or oozing slime to deter a predator, the animals in this book are amazing… and revolting.

Discover a whole world of poo, learn how to be a poo detective, and meet some of the great scientists doing gross and yucky work!

You'll laugh. You'll cry. You might even throw up!

Reading level varies from child to child, but we recommend this book for ages 8 to 12.

Certificate of Commendation, The Royal Zoological Society of NSW 2022 Whitley Awards: Children's Investigative Zoology

- Short description

News

Read more on our blog:
How well do you know animals? Do you know just how revolting they can be? Test your poo-IQ with The Most Disgusting Quiz, based on facts from Poo, Spew and Other Gross Things Animals Do!

Watch the video trailer:

Reviews

"Whether it’s to use poo to build a nest, leaving stinky secretions to find a mate, or oozing slime to deter a predator, the animals and their habits featured in this book are not only fascinating but help us understand how our own bodies work. Anyone who thinks that print non fiction is dead because “everything is on the Internet” hasn’t discovered CSIRO Publishing’s catalog!!"
Barbara Braxton, The Bottom Shelf, 2 April 2022

"Poo, Spew, and the other gross things animals do happily goes where others might fear to tread, delving into the world of creatures and the multitude of ways they utilise their bodily wastes. Hold onto your noses, readers ..."
Henricus Peters, Wildlife Australia Magazine, Autumn 2023

"Poo is always a popular topic amongst kids so I believe that this book is perfect to engage and then educate about how poo helps animals in various ways. This book has been a hit in our house so it comes highly recommended!"
Vanessa Ryan-Rendall, Educate Empower, 8 April 2022

"This book is packed with facts and information of the pooey kind that will bring readers to admire, marvel and boggle at the ways that nature finds to recycle what gets eaten."
Kevin Brophy, CBCA Reading Time, 5 May 2022

"The book looks quite beautiful for something so disgusting. It’s very well credentialed and is laid out perfectly – almost magazine style – in bite-sized chunks with plenty of colour and a welcome variety of information. Interesting photographs and delightful artworks accompany the terrifying text to heighten the interest and embellish some of the more descriptive passages. Pun intended."
Kids' Book Review, 5 May 2022

"The comprehensive text – well supported by the images and a scientific glossary – and the extensive teacher notes available online from the CSIRO Publishing makes this book a valuable resource for primary classrooms to explore several key learning outcomes in science, English and the design and technology curricula."
Dr Sundara Mawalagedera, Teaching Science, June 2022

"Teachers can use this to link into Living things units of work - life cycles, flow charts, interdepence & sustainability. This book has been a hit in our house so it comes highly recommended!"
Vaness Ryan Rendall, Educate Empower, 8 April 2022

Details

Paperback | April 2022 | $ 29.99
ISBN: 9781486314867 | 92 pages | 250 x 215 mm
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Colour illustrations, Colour photographs

ePDF | April 2022
ISBN: 9781486314874
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Available from eRetailers

ePUB | April 2022
ISBN: 9781486316625
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Available from eRetailers

Features

Shows how gross, but fascinating, behaviours can be essential for animals to live.
Highlights some of the weird things scientists get up to and includes interviews with real scientists.
Packed with fabulous and fun illustrations by Rachel Tribout.

About the authors

Chapter 1: Animal grossness
Chapter 2: You ate what?
Chapter 3: Home, stinky home
Chapter 4: Love is gross
Chapter 5: Grossness as self-defence
Chapter 6: Poo detectives
Chapter 7: Gross stuff makes the world go round
Chapter 8: World’s grossest animals revealed

Grossary
Poos of the world
Acknowledgements
Index
Picture credits

Authors

Nic Gill is a Tasmanian author, environmental writer and conservation dog handler. Her dog, Zorro, is a Tasmanian masked owl vomit detection dog, and is also an avid consumer of books, albeit in a more literal sense than Nic would like. Her first book, Animal Eco-Warriors, was a Children’s Book Council of Australia Notable Book.

Dr Romane Cristescu trained and worked as a vet in France before relocating to Australia to study koalas. She is also a poo science evangelist, who likes nothing more than discussing the illuminating qualities of animal excrement at otherwise polite parties.

Rachel Tribout is an illustrator and graphic designer from France based in Tasmania. She's the illustrator of Hold On! Saving the Spotted Handfish, the author and creator of The Monsters of Tasmania and is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.