"Turkey Vulture
Thinks that meat's a treat, all rotten.
Loves roadkill, sun-grilled au gratin.
Tears out chunks to fill its belly
at every roadside smelly deli.
Dines on putrid filth and worms.
Doesn't mind the nasty germs.
Gut's so strong it can't get sick
on rancid bites gone slimy-slick."
There are thirteen poems here. They are sorted into three sections: swimming eaters, land-based eaters, and flying eaters. Oh, and there is a special surprise in the final poem. All but the final one are presented on double-page spreads, accompanied by telling artwork created in cut-paper relief on hand-painted papers. This makes for a most enjoyable and informative book for sharing.
Swimming eaters include jellyfish, a narwhal, piranha, and otters. Readers should be fairly familiar with each of these species, and will enjoy the facts that are part of a pleasing poem. The land-based eaters' section has engaging poetry about aardvarks, the koala, African bush elephants, and hippos.
"No one ever called
a hippo sweet.
Truth is
he's ill-tempered.
And consider this:
unless you run faster
than nineteen miles per hour,
don't provoke him.
He'll cross a river
side to side
before you have a chance
to say "I'm sorry.""
Flying eaters begin with the turkey vulture and then introduce the Mexican Free-Tailed bat, the housefly, and the seagull. The final entry, on the very last page, may be a surprise for many readers. The poem describes a mayfly: not an eater at all. A descriptive paragraph shares their adaptations, both in and out of water.
Prior to that, back matter recounts something about each of the creatures in the book, grouped according to their environment and followed by a list of resources for learning even more.
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