December's Book of the Month--Poo-Dunnit?

December’s Book of the Month is really funny—and you just might learn something from it. POO-DUNNIT? A FOREST FLOOR MYSTERY, is written by Katelyn Aronson and illustrated by Stephanie Laberis.

When “once upon a forest floor, a snout poke[s] out a burrow door,” it’s Mouse, who finds a pile of poo sitting there. With a “sniff, sniff!” and a “whiff, whiff!” the investigation begins, because of course Mouse wants to know “Poo-dunit?” First on the suspect list is Squirrel, who says the poo is too big, then Skunk, who says it’s too thick, then Porcupine, who says it’s too long, then, well, you get the idea. None of the animals fesses up. But this big, thick, long, un-pointy, dark, messy poo must belong to someone!

The extremely entertaining story, fabulous to read aloud, is told in bouncy, clever rhyme, punctuated by Mouse calling out the progressively larger animals in an attempt to solve the mystery. Lively digital illustrations are expressive and comical. But the genius of this book is that there really is a non-fiction element to all the fun—it’s a beginner’s guide to scat! Back matter includes a guessing game and a brief introduction, while end papers use animal tracks to reinforce who poops what.

POO-DUNNIT? A FOREST FLOOR MYSTERY will surely delight kids of all ages. C’mon, who can resist a funny, rhyming book about poo? Not me!

--Lynn