MOWMT: The Scoop on Poop with Lynne Marie

March 31, 2025

[Click on the Link / Titles to buy the books.]

Kids have long been fans of potty humor and often seem to find a great deal of entertainment in hearing or saying the word POOP!

So while it may be a first inclination to avoid the stuff at all costs, it could become a hook in a book -- at least if it's fresh and new (EW!) So let's examine some different ways that authors have incorporated it into their books.

WHO FLUNG DUNG? written and illustrated by Ben Redlich (Sky Pony Press / Meadowside Children's Books, 2013) This picture book follows a monkey named Furley who...

One pleasant day ... was minding his own business, when ... SHOOP! "Who flung dug?" Furley said, in need of a towel. No one was around to confess, so he went to investigate.

Each animal Furley encounters denies that they would fling such a terrible thing, while at the same time, conveying their eating methods. Furley must press on until a mischevious giggle leads him to the poop perpetrator.

This narrative weaves in interested facts about animals and their eating habits as well as reveals what creature would have flung dung. So a little thread of non-fiction can go a long way, even in a fiction book!

POO-DUNIT? A FOREST FLOOR MYSTERY by Katelyn Aronson, with Art by Stephanie Laberis. Candlewick, 2022.

Anyone who reads this will notice the similarity between this and the previous example, WHO FLUNG DUNG? However, this one concerns forest animals, AND it does WFD one better by delivering more information about the topic (dung) rather than what the animals eat. This story was slated to be the Grand Prize Winner of Rate Your Story's then annual contest (we've skipped last year), but had to be withdrawn when it got an offer of publication! So we're big fans of this book!

But here's the lesson - change it up and do it better!

THE BOY WHO CRIED POOP by Alessandra Requena, with art by Guilherme Karsten. Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2023.

This particular treatment is a clever and humorous (and cumulative) play on The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Woven into the narrative are tried and try methods for helping a child poop given by caring relatives. It's geared to children who make mistakes and the issues is treated with compassion and understanding. Basically the theme boils down to everyone has false alarms and also accidents.

So this treatment combines fun, fiction and a bit of self-help for little ones who are navigating getting to the bathroom on time.

POOP FOR BREAKFAST: WHY SOME ANIMAL EAT IT by Sara Levine, with Art by Florence Weiser. Millbrook Press/Lerner Publishing Group, 2023.

This is the non fiction story in the bunch, which starts by asking the question: What's for breakfast? And answering it - Poop's for breafast! It then goes on to highlight animals that eat poop, as well as the many other uses animals have for poop.

This book is a great example of how non-fiction can offer information in fun and creative ways, even if it's about poop!

To be frank, there's more than one way to scoop poop! Who knew?

Well -- here's the take away and method to my madness. This year, I've pretty much focuses on books of a certain topic that had varied approaches. Why? Because as an Editor, Director of Rate Your Story and Developmental Mentor and Editor, I see the same topics again and again and again and again!

I'll give an example that I was once a Judge for the SCBWI Florida Rising Kite Contest. My judging pool was 25 manuscripts and there were 5 on the same topic! All done in the same or similar way. Does this mean these topics are overdone and not worth pursuing? Not necessarily! Not if they can be executed in a way that's fresh and new!

So if you have manuscripts that look or feel like they have been done before, shake them up!

Read Mentor texts for ideas and find a new approach. It just may make the difference between the dead manuscript drawer and success!

PRIZE: I am giving away a 20 Minute Ask Me Anything session with me (Lynne Marie) to one lucky winner. Please post in the comments as to whether you found a manuscript that you will be trying from a different angle. I will be happy to discuss that manuscript with you.

BIO: Lynne Marie is the award-winning author of Hedgehog Goes to Kindergarten -- art by Anne Kennedy (Scholastic 2011), Hedgehog's 100th Day of School -- art by Lorna Hussey (Scholastic 2017), The Star of the Christmas Play -- art by Lorna Hussey (Beaming Books 2018), Moldilocks and the 3 Scares -- art by David Rodriguez Lorenzo (Sterling / Scholastic 2019) and Let’s Eat! Mealtime Around the World -- art by Parwinder Singh (Beaming Books 2019), The Three Little Pigs and the Rocket Project and The Three Little Pigs and the Rocket Project Coloring Book -- art by Wendy Fedan (Mac and Cheese Press 2022), The Palace Rat -- art by Eva Santana (Yeehoo Press 2023), BroomMates: A Brewing Boundary Battle (an Anna Dewdney Read-Together Finalist 2025) co-written with Brenda Reeves Sturgis – art by Nico Ecenarro (The Little Press 2024) and Henny Penny’s Weather Worries and more, forthcoming. 

She’s an Editor at The Little Press, the Director of RateYourStory.org, a Mentor at ThePictureBookMechanic.com, the Creator of March On With Mentor Texts (www.rateyourstory.org/march-on) and Mentor Text Talk, a Co-Host of #SeasonsOfKidLit (www.seasonsofkidlit.com) and a Feature Columnist at Children’s Book Insider (https://writeforkids.online/).  Visit her at www.LiterallyLynneMarie.com.