MY DAD AND THE FART THAT SHOOK THE WORLD

Father and child battle a stomach-churning enemy.

After Eddie’s frequently flatulent dad lets a really bad one rip, the youngster knows that it’s time for action. Eddie and Dad grab their Fartinators, hop aboard Butt Force One, and set off to save humanity from “my dad’s massive bottom toot.” Their mission takes them across the globe, with famous sights spotlighted in fart-centric rhymes—e.g., “Into north of Africa, the cry went up, ‘It stinks!’ / as the smell arrived in Egypt and the / nose fell off the Sphinx.” That’s not the only couplet that doesn’t scan easily, but award-winning British parenting blogger Coyne, here with his first kids’ book, is resourceful with his rhyme pairings: A smell that is “quite / horrific!” crosses “the South Pacific,” and so on. The above description makes the tale sound like pure grossout humor, but a sweetly affectionate father–child adventure lies beneath the gaseous fumes. In Merritt’s suitably unsubtle art, a neon-green ribbonlike fart cloud startles all humans and animals in its path. Of interest to historians: The stench even reaches King Charles and President Joe Biden, whose cameo appearances in this book will surely be among both men’s greatest honors. As for the story’s ending, let’s just say that all signs point to repeat escapades. Both father and child are brown-skinned; the supporting cast is diverse.

Dopey, disgusting, and damned hilarious.