Yuck You Suck! Poems about Animals That Sip, Slurp, Suck

Millbrook Press ™ (October 4, 2022)
with Heidi Stemple
Illustrated by Eugenia Nobati
ISBN-10: 1728415667
ISBN-13: 978-1728415666

Poems about animals that suck. No really. The ones that sip and slurp, and otherwise suck their food or use sucking for locomotion and other things. My daughter Heidi and I did a lot of research on such animals around the world, then each chose which creatures we individually wanted to write about. Then we sat across my big dining room table reading our poems aloud to one another and then critiquing each poem. And oh, and by the way, the Vampire Bat? It does not suck! No, really–it bites and sips, but it does not suck!

This is the follow up to Eek You Reek!

What reviewers have said:

• “Exuberant, busy, and brightly colored full-page illustrations show a variety of creatures who ‘sip, slurp, suck.’ Insects, birds, sea life, and animals are drawn with exaggerated features and expressions that give them a cartoonish appearance. The poems are printed directly, but unobtrusively, on the illustrations in a fun font. Most of the poems are bouncy rhymes, with a concrete poem and a haiku also included. Common and uncommon creatures are explored. Lampreys are described: ‘It looks like a flower, with petals of gold. Keratin fillings. Oh―beauty―behold! Get set to go nearer, through ocean and muck. Does that flower smell pretty? ‘Tis a pity. Oops. Suck.’ Prologue and epilogue poems tie the theme together. End notes include an explanation on why animals suck, additional resources, anatomical terms for body parts that suck, informational paragraphs on each creature featured in the book, and a glossary of scientific terms. With a book talk or a display, it will be a hit in libraries or classrooms. ­VERDICT A delightful book that amuses and educates. Strong first purchase recommendation.”―STARRED, School Library Journal” —Publishers Weekly
• “I want you to understand that deranged eyeballs on a poetry picture book will, many times, be sufficient to get me interested in the contents therein. Add in the fact that this book is technically a STEM title, but with a delightfully gross twist, and the poetry itself just becomes a helpful bonus. You want poetry with bite? You got it, babe. Mother/daughter team Yolen/Stemple have conjured up 15 different poems on creatures with sucking abilities. You’ll know some of them already, like mosquitoes or vampire bats. But did you know that pigeons have a beak that works like a straw (unlike many other birds)? Or that remoras don’t (actually) suck? There’s plenty of gross qualities to enjoy (I got one word for you: lampreys) and a wide variety of poetic styles ranging from haikus to concrete poems. Add in the great backmatter (“Anatomical Terms for Parts That Suck”, “Animals Suck for a Reason”, “Other Books to Sink Your Proboscis Into”) which also includes additional info on each sucker AND a glossary and you have yourself one heckuva disgusting class act.” — Betsy Bird’s column in School Library Journal  on Best (gross) Books of the year

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