This British import is something of a psychological test; parents who read it will find out exactly how permissive they are.
This slim volume is divided into two parts clearly telegraphed by the title. “In Fart Club, you can toot, poot, cut the cheese, break wind, drop a bomb, and let off as much as you like,” Yuck says quite early on in the first story. “Just make sure it’s big, loud, and smelly.” The second story unsurprisingly includes lengthy discussions about vomit. Yuck mixes up a batch of fake puke and pours it into his sister’s school bag. He also plays tricks on his teacher and his mother. Feminists may note that all of the victims are female, but a book about the quest for the world’s biggest fart may not require sociological analysis. The first story includes this sentence: “They did HONKERS and POPPERS, BLASTERS and SNEAKERS, CRACKERS and SQUIDGERS, but most of all…really smelly STINKERS!” Parents who can imagine reading that sentence out loud to their children will love this book. Those who stop reading by “SQUIDGERS” might consider another title, possibly a story about orphans who teach each other to read. Their children will thank them and hide Yuck’s Fart Club behind the cover. Regardless of the permissiveness of their parents, children of a certain age will flock to this book. (Humor. 7-10)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4424-8153-4
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 30, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
George deftly describes the satisfying sequence of familiar events in a summer camping experience in this collection of 30 related poems perfectly paired once again with Kiesler's inviting oil paintings (The Great Frog Race and Other Poems, 1998, etc.). The daily rhythms of a camping trip are presented from the “Tent” to exploring an “Abandoned Cabin” to observing “A Doe.” Shared common experiences include “Sleeping Bag”: "It's so cold outside, I'm getting dressed inside / my sleeping bag. I wriggle, scoootch, scrunch, and jiggle. Flop. / Front flips, back flips—I'm a caterpillar / in a cozy cloth cocoon / that zips." Short pieces like “Mosquito Song” demonstrate pointed wordplay with a witty use of alliteration and onomatopoeia: "Its Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! / Mosqueeeeeeeeeeeeeeto! / Is that you, Dinner? / Greeeeeeeeeetings." Kiesler expresses the changing vistas of the countryside from the uneasy, dark palette of the double-page spread for “Storm” to the bright, sunshiny view of a field for “Wild Mustard.” The changing layout of each page gives a sense of surprise to the most ordinary of events, the words of the concrete poem, “Eavesdropping,” "Tipping / a slender / silver ear" placed in the shape of crescent moon, the stanzas of “Flashlight” positioned in the beams of light, to name just a few. Altogether, an engaging trip. (Poetry. 7-10)
Pub Date: March 19, 2001
ISBN: 0-618-04597-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2001
Two boys imagine an adventure in the kingdoms of Thatchwych and High Dudgeon. Sir Seth and his buddy Sir Ollie go a-questing in their tinfoil armor to find the missing Soothsaying Shoes of Sir Shawn Shrood. They wend their way to the dark, lonely castle of Prince Quincy of Poxley with the help of saber-toothed sloth Edith-Anne and the ghost of Jolly King Wally. Can they brave the weezils and weevils and elephant ants with measles and worse? With the help of new friends, it’s easy-peasy! Published in an avowed attempt to revive the read-aloud for middle graders, Canadian ad-man Thake’s first work of fiction will, more likely, sour their stomachs. The forced rhymes and treacly descriptions would set teeth on edge in a picture book. The bad grammar and cutesy made-up words are anything but instructive, easily addressed “dangers” kill any sense of adventure and the characters never develop beyond caricatures. Serviceable black-and-white, cartoon illustrations can’t save this. Cressida Cowell’s How to Train Your Dragon books, Kate McMullan’s Dragon Slayers' Academy and the storied Magic Tree House all render this painfully patronizing series unnecessary. (Fantasy. 7-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-897349-92-2
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2010
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