I am not sure why there is a snake in Wombats Are Pretty Weird: A (Not So) Serious Guide by Abi Cushman, other than comic relief. Regardless of the way, the snake and we the reader, learn all the poop on wombats (or what could be put in a picture book for ages at least five and up). Most people know wombats have square poop, but did you know they have strong cartilage butts? Or there are three types? Or that they have backward facing pouches (the only marsupial that does)? You will learn that and more in Cushman’s book.
This book due in late May 2023 (yes online reader copy again), is also illustrated by Cushman. Their illustrations are colorful, cute, silly, goofy, and enjoyable. They allow the humor to come out, and the fact that we have a talking snake, several wombats and other animals talking, seems natural because of them. However, there are also scientific images, sections/boxes as well. For the first time I found out how the cube o’ poop is made as there is nothing square about wombats (weird, but not square). And since things are drawn it is perfectly tastefully done (of course, one image might have me swearing off brownie cubes for a bit).
There is also an authors afterwards that round things up and gives a little more information (such as where the three types of wombats live, their sizes, weight, what issues they might have and their conservation status). Overall, this is a great book for a classroom, but also works well for the child that likes animals and/or you want to introduce them to other types of animals than the ones that live around your area
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