What's So Special about the Topic of Poos and Farts?

Back by popular demand, Hastings War Memorial Library is hosting another Poos and Farts Storytime. This was so well-attended last year, we’re giving it another roll of the dice on Sunday 13 August. Anyone with small children will understand why.

I remember years ago the well-known educator and children’s book author, Jill Eggleton, commenting that to capture young readers all you had to do was to make them laugh, or give them a good surprise. And nothing is funnier for little kids than the surprise of coming across the word “poo” or “fart” in a story. In this way scatological humour is the perfect double-whammy.

Writers for some time have been making the most of this. A young relative of mine who shall remain nameless launched himself into chapter books, well before I thought him able to read them, when he came across Bumageddon: the final pongflict (by Andy Griffiths) at school. I heard a local bookseller reveal that putting a copy of Poo Bum (by Stephanie Blake) in the shop window always drew a raft of new customers.

Which just goes to show that if you have a child at home who is reluctant to discover the magic of books, this is a genre that might turn them into readers. And it doesn’t have to be storybooks either; the non-fiction section of the library has a bunch of great kids’ books offering fun-facts on all things poos and farts oriented.

And while Bumageddon and Poo-Bum have been around a while now, more and more authors have been adding to the genre. Young children who look askance at stories like this, might be relieved to know that Even Fairies Fart (by Jennifer Stinson) while others keen to read a series of fart-themed novels, should check in with the Fartboy series by Adam Wallace or the Fart Monster and Me series by Tim Miller.

We’ve got some great new non-fiction titles including How Poo Can Save the World by John Townsend. You could also check out Where’s the Space Poo? and Where’s the Holiday Poo?, two look-and-find books on the subject of poo in the vein of Where’s Wally?. Parents dealing with potty training should look out for Poo Face by Andrew Daddo which is hitting the shelves soon.

For more details on where to find poos and farts themed books at the library, check out our previous post on the topic here. And don’t forget to come along to our Poos and Farts Storytime, Sunday 13 August at 2:00 pm, at Hastings War Memorial Library.

8 August 2023

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