THE POETRY OF POO

Verses on a range of snicker-worthy subjects, from boogers to bottoms.

Solis closes with descriptions of select poetic forms and an invitation to readers to craft more verses, but his own will be hard to match for seemingly effortless grossness. Young people will find everything from “Booger Search and Rescue” (“‘I’m going in,’ my finger said, / Looking rather brave”) to a tribute to the martial art of “Ka-Fart-Te” that lends whole new meaning to turning the other cheek, not to mention verse in praise of “Giggle Farts,” scabs (“Picking You”), and “Wet Willy” the pirate. Tidy rhythms and clever wordplay turn each selection into heady, ready fare for either solitary enjoyment or sharing with groups of sure-to-be-rapt listeners. Recognizing that gross-out humor can wear thin, the poet wisely inserts occasional changes of pace, too, such as a cozy poem about raising a dust bunny under the bed as a secret pet. Brown opens with a multicultural gallery of young wordsmiths uttering cognates for the titular substance and goes on to add properly comical notes aplenty with a cast of caricatured light- and dark-skinned figures looking variously revolted, nauseated, or delighted depending on the tone and topic of the accompanying poem.

Piles of fun.