As a children’s bookseller there was one thing you could be sure of: Give a kid a book about bums, poo or farting and you will have a snorting, giggling friend for life.
Possibly not the always the first choice of the older relative who has companioned them, who was perhaps hoping to leave the shop with something a little more “educational”, or “traditional”. But definitely the sort of thing that immediately catches delighted little eyes!
Sure, there’s room in this world for The Velveteen Rabbit AND bum books- but each has their time and place, and the time and place for bum books is ALWAYS and EVERYWHERE.
My little eyes were delighted then, when three books from the wonderful Claudia Rowe plopped through my letter box.
The Very Hungry Bum, Where the Wild Bums Are and Bum Magic are three hysterical parodies of well-known children’s picture books, which you have probably guessed, are all about rumps, derrieres, posteriors and whoopie cakes.
Irreverent and bonkers, I love these books! They are full of all the silliness and daft nonsense that makes being a kid such fun. But, you don’t have to be a kid to crease up over these, I was sniggering throughout each one and will definitely be keeping them for endless rereads!
It would be easy for kid’s books of this nature to become crass, and parodies can sometimes seem like tacky imposters, but Rowe’s illustrations are subtly wonderful and playful and pay loving respect to the originals. I can easily see these books standing up as must-reads in thier own right. The humor is spot on, just enough without being rude for the sake of it (genius considering its out and out bummage from page one!).
I can see these books being a great tool in teaching kids that bums, poos and farts are nature’s comedy tools and something to be laughed at rather than be ashamed of. Though, teaching your kids to fart expressively and persistantly in class probably isn’t the goal here.
Right, I’m off to download a free copy of The Hungry Bum Yoga Book to complete my collection and see if I can catch a bummerfly, in the meantime, take a look at the trailer for Where The Wild Bums Are…it’s the definition of adorable!
Book infos:
The Very Hungry Bum:
- ISBN: 9780646578347
- Published by Atlas Jones & Co, 2013
- Sent copy by author
Where The Wild Things Are:
- ISBN: 9782646595818
- Published by Atlas Jones & Co, 2013
- Sent copy by author
Bum Magic:
- ISBN: 9780646583068
- Published by Atlas Jones & Co, 2012
- Sent copy by author
