Sniff, sniff! went Mouse. Whiff, whiff, went Mouse. “Who left this poo outside my house?…Poo-dunit?”

Mouse is rightly offended when a neighbor leaves a stinking pile of poop near her burrow. The hunt begins! Mouse sniffs out the culprit, blaming one animal after another. Each time, the accused explains why the scat can’t possibly be theirs: too big, too messy, too ploppy. With prideful boasting, Bear claims it’s his. “‘Yes!’ said Bear/ ‘That’s mine! It’s true!/ The mystery’s solved./ I made this poo …/ A poo that no one can outdo!’” In the end, Moose unleashes his monstrous scat and bursts Bear’s boastful bubble.

Katelyn grew up in southern California, in a home where reading was a family affair. Her mother was a kidlit lover, reading aloud stories to her and her sisters. Her father was a “natural-born storyteller,” spinning “entire sagas out of thin air at bedtime.” The world of imagination and make-believe was where she lived. “…[A]nd words were just another way of creating magic together.”

Stephanie Laberis is a character designer and illustrator who focuses on crafting art for animation and children’s publications. Her digitally-crafted cartoon illustrations capture each character’s expressive charm in Poo-dunit, sparking humor and whimsy while children discover how science can be fun. Stephanie’s artwork is vibrant with lifelike details that pop off the page. Visit Stephanie Laberis at https://stephlaberis.squarespace.com/