This Cow Has a Tail

Like all two-year-olds, The Roc is obsessed with poop. Animal poop, people poop, imaginary poop--yes, The Roc hallucinates poop. Mostly literary poop. For example, he is convinced that this pig in his Peekaboo, Bunny! book is pooping in the laundry hamper:

And this sheep in Sheep in a Jeep:





(Sheep in a Jeep is probably my favorite of all board books, by the way. As the Library of Congress catalogue summary explains: "Records the misadventures of a group of sheep that go riding in a jeep." And it rhymes!)



And then there's this cow on the inside cover of The Little Engine That Could:





No matter how many times I explain that the cow has a TAIL, The Roc thinks it's pooping. As a result, I can recommend some excellent resources for parents of poop-loving toddlers. At Noah's Ark at the Skirball Center, kids can sweep up highly realistic lumps of plastic animal poop. (Bravo to the Skirball for anticipating the inevitable questions about all the poop on Noah's Ark.) And thanks to Uncle Dave for introducing us to the anatomically correct, animated quiz at www.whopooped.org, where The Roc got all the answers right on the first try and earned himself a well-deserved, full-color "Poop Expert" certificate, now hanging above his changing table.

And then there's this:

This book won't be released in the US until October, but I saw the British version (subtitled "What's in Your Nappy?") on a recent trip to London and I was genuinely horrified. On the plus side, it has flaps you can lift, realistic animal poop pictures, and a none-too-subtle pro-potty-training message. On the downside, it is a story about a mouse who goes around peeking in other animals' poopy diapers. Ew.