Butt or Face?
Super Gross Butts
by Kari Lavelle
Sourcebooks Explore, 2025. 36 pages.
Review written November 17, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review
Kari Lavelle has got a good thing going, and I’m glad she’s not stopping. And I can’t seem to stop reviewing them. The fact is, you’ve already got ingredients that add up to a huge hit with kids for librarians book talking:
— The word “Butt”
— A simple interactive quiz where kids can shout out the answer (Bonus: One possible answer is “Butt”!)
— Photographs of animals
— Intriguing animal facts about unusual animals
And with this third book in the series, she’s added one more sure winner:
— Many of those facts about animals are super gross.
Some examples are the greater short-horned lizard that squirts blood from its eyes, the silver-spotted skipper caterpillar that catapults its excrement at predators, and the tortoise beetle larva that makes armor out of poop.
The format is the same as the earlier books: Show a close-up picture of part of an animal. Then ask: Is it a BUTT or a FACE? Turn the page to see the full picture of the animal and the answer to the question. There are additional text boxes on the picture headlined “Face the Facts” or “Beyond the Backside.” A chart and map at the back shows where each animal comes from, their scientific name, and what they eat.
There are plenty of kids out there who love learning strange or better yet super gross animal facts. This one adds lots of fun to the mix. See if you can resist guessing which pictures are butts and which are faces. (I got most of them right, but not all of them.)
karilavelle.com
sourcebookskids.com
Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/super_gross_butts.html
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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.
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