Bottoms Up! : A Book about Rear Ends

Children's Literature - Dianne Ochiltree

This book proposes to tell its reader the many "incredible" things that animals can do with their posteriors, in addition to the obvious functions. The text is indeed written in a friendly, informative style; and the full-color oil paintings that illustrate the book are extremely well-done. However, the natural science facts are presented in a disjointed manner which makes the book of little use to students doing research for a science report. Each section addresses the "bottom" of an animal species, highlighting bodily functions as different from one another as laying eggs or scent identification or stinging. For children hearing this for the first time, this may be more confusing than enlightening. Also, presenting this sort of information in isolation from the overall context of each animal's behavior, seemingly for "shock value" alone, makes it distasteful. The bottom line is: what readership does this book serve? Librarians and teachers, with limited budgets, will find this of little educational use. And although this book might appeal to youngsters in the "bathroom humor" stage of life, it is unlikely to win over the parents and other adults with the money required to purchase a hardcover picture book these days.

School Library Journal

Gr 3-5--"Female baboons and male mandrills look like they've put makeup on their butts....When dogs greet, they sniff each other's butts....Elephants sometimes pee and poop when they greet." Double-page entries--a page of text facing a full-page illustration--explain how 13 animals use their backsides to communicate, lay eggs, weave food traps, spray enemies, or meet other life needs. Singer acknowledges that "We all know that everyone poops." Many children will chuckle at recognizing a popular book title here. They will probably break into giggles at the repeated use of the frank terms. At this age, the guffaws may interfere with serious reading of the simple commentary introducing a variety of animals and their social and physiological practices. Most will be familiar, with the hornbill, forceps fish, and sea cucumber representing lesser-known species. The hornbill's use of colored preening oil is lost in the awkward rendering of the big-beaked bird, but otherwise the modicum of information and O'Brien's quasi-realistic paintings offer an interesting sketch of each creature. A useful addition to the myriad books about animals.--Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston