Things that make you go hmmm......

I have a confession, I am rather childish and I think farts are, well, funny. I am delighted that my two and a half year old son agrees with me. And he is delighted by my rather impressive collection of kid's books on all things scatological. I started acquiring them a while ago because they were very funny indeed. I got in just when they were taking off and was generally regarded in the bookshop I worked in as the expert on this genre. And you would be surprised how often I was called upon to share my knowledge. So taking into account my expertise and puerile sense of humour, I thought I'd share some of my favourites because all poo books are not created equally.























I guess it all started with The Story of the Little Mole who knew it was None of his Business which is very funny, nicely written (with a particularly lovely description of a goat) and the illustrations are very well done. For those unaware of the delights of the book it is about a little mole who pokes his head out of his hole one morning and an animal poos on his head (where it remains throughout the book like a very smelly beret). Unfortunately the mole is shortsighted so he doesn't know who has committed this heinous act so he walks up to animals asking if they did 'this' on his head. The animals all respond with a no, I do it like this (or a variation on that line) and so the reader gets an education on the variety and appearance of animal dung and a laugh at the same time. With the help of two flies the little mole is on his way to solving the mystery and exacting his revenge. It's good fun and gross and maybe even educational (though that may be stretching things). It also comes as a version with a book and a mole soft toy (complete with 'hat') and there is a 'plop-up' version but I found the paper engineering a little unimaginative considering the possibilities the story provides.
Another book that came out at the same time was Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi. The title sums it up but it does get the idea across to children that we all do it, though not in the same way or quantity. It mentions toilets and potties and nappies so is probably a good book for little people beginning to get interested in potty training. Zoo Poo is another book in a similar vein written with toilet training in mind, so not as many laughs but nice illustrations.
Who's in the Loo follows the same theme with people queuing for the toilet at a zoo and two anxious children imagining who could be taking so long. Lovely rhymes such as,

"A wandering wombat who needed a widdle?
A waddling penguin too frozen to piddle?"

are accompanied by colourful illustrations and an ending that is surprising if only for its innocence.
There are lots of picture books now like the above that are aimed at the toilet training market. Some are clever, like the book that is also a paper doll that sits up on the edge of a potty, but others are copying an original concept (like the Little Mole) and giving it their own twist. Peekapoo falls into that category. It has a similar concept to the mole, but this time a little mouse in a nappy asks his fellow animals to look in their nappies to see what their poo looks like. As the book ends the other animals demand to see inside the mouse's nappy and are surprised that it is empty. The mouse explains very proudly that he uses a potty and then all the animals want to try. My son loves this book and he and I have laughed alot when we've read it due to the lift the flap nappies. The text is pretty awful, so we just make the story up as we go and keep flipping those nappy flaps. And laughing.
Not educational at all, but highly amusing is The Fly. It starts with a fly getting ready for a swim packing his bag with sunscreen, a towel and a ball. He arrives at the pool and starts to swim but suddenly the sky grows dark and the fly (with good reason) becomes scared. The shadow is cast by a bottom and soon something "huge, enormous, as big as a football stadium" is coming straight towards the fly. The text is written with a light hand, letting the illustrations do the talking. And the illustrations are great. They are created from a combination of materials that would seem strange; textiles, cardboard, metal screws and clay, but they work together well to produce lots of groans, giggles and snorts. My son loves this book, but so too do lots of older kids (and adults).
And so to the Walter The Farting Dog series of Books. I resisted them for a long time, and I still can't say that I've embraced them all, but we do have a well read copy of Walter The Farting Dog Goes on a Cruise, where the flatulent Walter is banished below decks only to consume a large block of stinky, catastrophically fart inducing cheese that results in his being exiled. However as always in this series, when disaster strikes Walter saves the day. The Walter books are humorously written, with a nice moral about embracing difference and overcoming adversity (ie flatulence) but I've just never liked the computer generated drawings. Our chief book reviewer doesn't seem to mind them though and is always happy to revisit a Walter adventure. In fact we just did.
Which brings me to Smelly Bertie. Bertie first appeared as Dirty Bertie , which had very simple repetitive text. Smelly Bertie is more complex and funnier. Bertie gets in trouble with his parents, grandmother and sister for farting and is told that it is not, polite or nice. Bertie rages against the unfairness of it all, knowing that he is not the only one who farts,
"When Mum lets off a poot, she coughs at the same time to cover it up. When Dad lets off he's so sneaky..you don't know what's coming until it hits you."
And so on. It's hilarious, not at all educational (unless you count learning synonyms for fart) and as the author says in his dedication it is for "everyone who has ever laughed at their own trumps!"
All of the above are picture books, but as we know the appeal of farts, bums and poo don't wear off when we start reading chapter books. The Captain Underpants books always rate a mention because of their high grossness quotient and are also good for reluctant readers who might like their comic book style. And then there is the trilogy by Andy Griffiths starting with the Day my Bum went Psycho. Andy deserves a medal for outstanding services to bum jokes as he really gets the mileage out of as many toilet jokes and puns as possible. Funny, well of course they are funny, but surprisingly they also have good plots and nicely drawn characters. Again they are also good for reluctant readers (though older than the captain underpants audience) or anyone with a sense of humour.

The Story of the Little Mole who knew it was None of his Business
Written by Wolf Erlbruch and illustrated by Werner Holzwarth
Isbn 9780732256494
Harper Collins

Everyone Poops
by Taro Gomi
Isbn 9781845072582
TL Distribution

Zoo Poo
by Richard Morgan
Isbn 9780099456520
Random House Australia

Who's in the Loo
Written by Jeanne Willis and illustrated by Adrian Reynolds
Isbn 9781842706985
Random House Australia

Peek-a-poo
by Genechten Guido
Isbn 9781408800195
Allen and Unwin

The Fly
by Gusti
Isbn 9781741750812
Penguin Books Australia

Walter The Farting Dog Goes on A Cruise
Written by William Kotzwinkle, Glenn Murray and Elizabeth Gundy
and illustrated by Audrey Colman
Isbn 9780143501961
Penguin books Australia

Dirty Bertie
by David Roberts
Isbn 9780864614438
Scholastic Books

Smelly Bertie
by David Roberts
Isbn 9780864616241
Scholastic Books

Captain Underpants #1
by Dave Pilkey
Isbn 9780590846288
Scholastic

The Day my Bum Went Psycho
by Andy Griffiths
Isbn 9780330362924
Pan Macmillan Australia

Zombie Bums from Uranus
by Andy Griffiths
Isbn 9780330364256
Pan Macmillan Australia

Bumageddon: the Final Pongflict
by Andy Griffiths
Isbn 9780330421973
Pan Macmillan Australia