cover image Track That Scat!

Track That Scat!

Lisa Morlock, illus. by Carrie Anne Bradshaw. Sleeping Bear, $15.95 (32p) ISBN 978-1-58536-536-4

Stepping in animal poop is rarely cause for celebration, but it is for a girl named Finn in a story that invokes not one, not two, but three meanings of the word “scat.” On a wildlife walk with her basset hound, Finn introduces her brand-new sneakers to a potpourri of animal scat: “Three-toed web prints grouped together./ Nearby floats a long tail feather./ With one trop-plop, Finn’s foot goes splat./ Oh no! She steps into... goose scat!” Morlock describes each animal’s habits and excrement in (extremely) detailed paragraphs: “Rabbits eat their own poop. When the scat comes out the first time, it’s in soft, moist pellets.” In addition to Bradshaw’s more fancifully painted spreads, the animals’ tracks and scat are depicted as they might appear in an animal identification guide. Nature-minded readers who are more careful than Finn about watching where they step will find plenty of information about what animals leave on the forest floor. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)