The Dirt!: Wild Life Under the Soil's Surface

by Lindsey Leigh

Dig into the often messy world of critters who live underground and learn about why soil is essential to life on earth!

Did you know there is an entire ecosystem right beneath our feet? Have you ever heard of the "poop loop"? This graphic nonfiction title will both educate and excite young readers about the wonders (and creepiness!) of animals that live underground, including worms, beetles, armadillos, badgers, and even the tiniest of protozoa.

Author and illustrator Lindsey Leigh continues her popular and humorous trilogy by introducing critters of all sizes in this fact-filled book about the dirt-dwelling creatures that contribute to the soil food web and are crucial to the health of the world. Join her on this graphic and grimy deep dive into The Dirt!

Genres: Nonfiction, Picture Books, Science, Childrens

96 pages, Hardcover

First published November 25, 2025

Reviews

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book! I learned so much about the world of animals that live in the soil!

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun little book. I think it does a good job of balancing accurate information* with cute art and engaging writing. Reading it I continually wanted to look up some of the strange creatures it featured to get more information; it would be impractical for a book like this to have as much as I would like, so I can't hold this against it. But it also means the book worked as an introduction to all kinds of interesting little bits of information, and to organisms I otherwise knew very little to nothing about. I feel like this would be an excellent book for a child interesting in science, or even one who just likes gross and creepy things.

*I did see a few errors, like the claim that slime molds are amoeba-like protozoa: some may be, but it turns out slime molds are a paraphyletic grouping, lumped together because of common features despite being very distantly related to each other.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lindsey Leigh’s THE DIRT! brings the hidden world beneath our feet to light in this informative book about the organisms and animals found in soil. After an introduction to soil that lays the foundation for the rest of the book, content is divided by size of the creature, from the teeniest bits of bacteria to the larger badgers and moles that live underground. In the same vein as her previous books THE DARK! and THE DEEP!, illustrations in the graphic nonfiction text accompany and support reader accessible content that is often delivered with humor. The ultimate message is the interconnection of these organisms and our reliance on their presence and contributions to keep a natural balance that benefits all of Earth’s inhabitants. An engaging and entertaining read on a subject that readers have frequently encountered but likely have not considered in depth.

[Martha Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lindsey Leigh turns her potent talents to informing kids about soil organisms, from big to microscopic, and the critical role they play in keeping our humus and top soil healthy and ready to grow plants to support the rest of life on earth. More accessible (under our feet!) and more critical to human and animal life than caves, perhaps even more than the deep sea, this book is brilliant at sharing just the basic information that will allow kids to come to their own conclusions about the importance of how we treat our soil, without any preaching. Also this is a terrific gross out book for kids! Ms Leigh shares information in a humorous and light way, with plenty of fun speech bubbles for all the creepy little crawlies that make up the teeming ecosystem of healthy soil.

[Ellon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars (I liked it)

This was jam packed with information. In fact, I think it was a little much for the intended audience. But I still think readers can get a lot out of the book even if some of it is a bit hard to comprehend.

There is a wide range of creatures mentioned and at some points I almost wish there were less creatures with a greater emphasis on each one but then I go back and forth because it was really cool to read the highlights of each creature.

[LinLin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not your typical National Geographic kind of non fiction book. It is a book loaded with so much information kids can learn about ALL things (single cell and more) living under dirt. You can enjoy reading about each animal to your kindergartener before bed or use it as a research book for your second grader’s animal habitat project. No scary illustrations here, just beautiful drawings of many animals including the naked mole rat :-)))

[Sophie Janto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for kids. Just enough information to be educational, but balanced with fun pictures and cartoons to keep them interested. Not overly “preachy” as some of these types of books can be these days, but also had a very nice page at the end about ways to help preserve our soil! My 5 year old is obsessed with the book and asks for it every night. My 8 yr old enjoyed reading it. Can’t wait to read the author’s other books!