Who's had a poo? And lots of other questions by Anton Poitier
Ill. by Tracy Cottingham. The Five Mile Press, 2016, ISBN
9781760400781
(Ages: 3-5) This 'spot the difference' book is quite a unique
concept, but it does not seem as well thought out as it could be.
Each spread features the same animals but on each page one or more
of the animals have moved or been altered and the reader is asked to
spot the difference/s. The target audience of pre-schoolers are
asked to spot such things as 'who is splashing water around?', 'who
is now upside down?' and 'who is taking a nap?'. Some of the
questions require the reader to compare a page with the previous
one, for example when looking at which animals have swapped places
or changed colour. Some require more analytical skills, such as 'who
is ready for lunch?' which requires the reader to infer meaning from
the animals' behaviour (for example, the panda is holding bamboo and
the duck is diving down into the water). Others provide humour, such
as 'who's done a poo?' which is sure to make pre-schoolers giggle.
The beauty of this book is the opportunity it provides to kick-start
conversations between adult and child. It asks the reader to
investigate each page closely and in some parts to make some
inferences from what they see. Parents who use the book well will
help children develop their analytical skills by discussing how they
know the dog is ready to play or what makes the crocodile look
fierce. However, it is a little limited in allowing this as on some
pages there is only one animal that has moved or changed. For
example, in 'who's showing off?' only the peacock is showing off as
he has his feathers spread; the other animals are unchanged. In
addition, some other questions are very simplistic (eg. 'who's had a
baby?' and 'who's found a friend?').
This will work well as a one on one shared activity with parent and
child rather than as a group read-aloud or for independent perusal.
Some children may tire of this quickly after they already know the
answers, while others may enjoy repeat readings.
Nicole Nelson