Using colorful illustrations, this delectable nonfiction book teaches us all about rot and decomposition in the world. Broken down into three parts, this book begins by focusing on describing the what, when, where, how, and why. Then, it dives deeper into the amazing facts behind decomposition and then the last section is dedicate to the who—all the amazing creatures who help with the decomposition process in nature. The end of our book includes experiments to see rot happen in real life and ends with a helpful index.

I really liked this book and think that my students would be interested in it as well, however, I found the illustrations super distracting.

My second grader and I loved this book! We read a few pages at a time at bedtime.

I would say it would be more appropriate academically for an upper elementary kiddo, and as an adult, I learned some fun facts too! For my second grader, she loved the many fun facts and humor throughout. The scientific names and higher level scientific explanations were beyond her level, but the humor and amazingly weird and colorful illustrations kept her attention and helped me explain the processes.

Sections include general definitions and explanations of the decomposition process. Then examples of decomposition in the world around us (with some great facts about millions of mites in our house around us, exploding whales, fermentation vs rotting, etc. The next section goes through a bunch of examples of types of decomposers, and finally a few easy at home science experiments.

Overall an amazing book! We reviewed an e-book advance copy from NetGalley and Storey Publishing. We will be adding a hard copy to our shelves as soon as it’s out! My daughter is very excited to add it to her shelves!!

There were some fun pieces of art, but the book as a whole was not my thing. The author seems to rely solely on gross/ick factor, rather than actually talking about the fascinatingly interesting facts about decomposers.

The pictures in this book are so pretty, it's easy to forget that some of the processes it describes are really gross. Full of good info!

Ahhhhh, YES!! I always love a book about yucky stuff so I was excited to see this one. The art is fun and beautiful, the facts are awesome—I know a lot about this stuff and *I* learned things from this book. Cannot wait to get this one out to the kiddos and beyond.

This cover, overall art style, and topic drew me in right away and kept me reading! World of Rot is a great book for kids ages 8 and up. There are quite a lot of words and a lot of pages, but the vivid art, diagrams, and humor make it much less intimidating than a typical non-fiction book might be. Several topics within the overall "rot" theme are discussed like foods, animals, and why rotting is important to our world. It is a book that could be read for the art alone too. The color scheme, quirky art style, and macabre nature of the book are so unique.
Publishes on: 9/3/2024
(Thank you to the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.)

World of Rot has wonderful artwork and accessible educator for learners reading around 4th grade. It explains how decomposition works, examples of rot, and how important it is for life. It is a great book for nature-lovers, especially your little worm gatherers or fungi nerds.

This book is perfect for my class and our school library. It engages the reader through great colours and illustrations of rot. My students will love learning about all things rot, decomposers and decomposition inside their bodies. The rotten explorations and activities will be a huge hit.

This read was so incredibly detailed and much more scientific than I could have imagined. While it was absolutely jam-packed with information, the book keeps a light, and often humorous, time between its the short blurbs found on each page amidst the main text and the colorful and imaginative art style.

This book begins with a portion explaining the science of rot and decomposition, moves on to a section of amazing facts and stories, and ends with an in depth exploration of several decomposers. The very end of this book even includes a few experiments to try in the classroom or at home.

Bonus points for mentioning one of my all time favorite oopsies - the 1970s Oregon coast dynamite explosion of a whale carcass. Let’s say that plan to quickly decompose large matter didn’t go as planned. Oops.

I highly recommend this for upper elementary age readers.

Thanks NetGalley and Storey Publishing for a copy of this ARC.

I had to read this based on the title and it is just as gross and fun as it sounds. It's also highly informative, easy to read, and gives readers great ideas about how they can learn more on their own by doing simple experiments.
I do think my favorite part was how in the beginning, you go through your house and look at your own body so you will never stop thinking about how much decomposition is happening all the time. My next favorite part was the explanation on why not to mess with giant whale corpses.
I highly recommend this for kids or adults who want to think about the natural world
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

“World of Rot” tells the story of the helper organisms that break down matter. Author Brittany Leigh Crow-Miller provides an overview of decomposition and rot in the natural world and gives the reader an introduction to all of the organisms that help make our world not so stinky. The text is enhanced by delightful illustrations and commentary.

This book reminds me of some of the Klutz Press books in the early 1990s. The tone is playful, but is imparting serious and complex information. The back of the book contains ideas for experimentation so that the reader can learn about rot through personal observation.

This book is great for kids of all ages interested in the natural world. This would be a great addition to an upper elementary classroom library or as an example of a high-quality non-fiction picture book in a high school classroom library.

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley and Storey Publishing, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.