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It is a big hit in my daughter's fifth grade class. It helps kids to understand that while everybody farts, there is a time and place for farting to be appropriate. This is a very good book, for both kids and adults. Everybody farts.
as we read the book to the kids (age 4) they can see, and hear, Walter in action :)they love it. We bought the plush toy along with the book.
The boy likes to add his own farting noises when we read.via his mouth mind you.no one can fart that much on command, can they. Enough. We have all of the titles and I'll buy more. Come on, my son's kindergarten teacher read it to them in class. Wonderful book. Get over yourselves and read it for what it is. It's a great story. A dog who farts and has a family who loves him.
It is, as he puts it, "The last bastion of manhood in a gelded world." (All right: I'm paraphrasing. (But honestly, Kotzwinkle and Murray: now that you've sold a million copies, couldn't you at least spring for one bottle of Febreeze). And not only does he fart in bed, he then proceeds to fluff the sheets to share his farts with me. And as Kotzwinkle and Murray benefit from its telling, here I sit, gas-mask mussing my hair, living the odorous reality of it all. It is egregious.
Somehow, though, they must have heard the tale - like the fart heard round the world - and seen in his story the drama, the suspense to capture an audience and make their New York Times Bestseller dreams come true. And while my husband, fair-minded man that he is, laughs and helps George to fluff the sheets (George having that no-opposable-thumb issue), I admit I am not so forgiving. In fact, he farts in bed. Perhaps I should sue.Chiefly I object to being portrayed as the kind of woman who would consider returning George because of his noxious smell. "Outside," I'll say, and then, "Bedtime," as I hold the kennel door open and my nose closed and usher George into his own little bed for the rest of the night. And he farts in bed.
In a way, I'm proud that our smelly laundry has been so publicly aired. And they changed some of the facts of the case - again, common; a true story fictionalized to make it more difficult for casual acquaintances to put two-and-two together and identify my family as the agonists (not exactly ant- but certainly not pro-). It is gratuitous. The next morning it is always in its place, though. No other compensation is necessary. I don't know how William Kotzwinkle and Glenn Murray learned of my dog George.
Like Walter, he farts when he bathes and while playing. I would not give George up.Aside from this one small error, however, Kotzwinkle and Murray got the story straight. It seems so unfair. Sometimes, then, I'll lie in the darkened room down the hall and wonder if the kennel has yet swollen to ten-times its normal size as George's hot-air inflates it like a balloon. So you see: our story; not Kotzwinkle's and Murray's.Yet, I suppose the story is theirs now, in a way; and because they have told it, it's become your story, too. They changed his name, of course, called him Walter the Farting Dog; but then that is common practice, "to protect the innocent" - I assume that means me. And while he has never in fact scared away nighttime marauders, guests who have over-stayed their welcome have occasionally been handed rather smelly, though figurative, hats as George has shown them the door. We have consulted our veterinarian (who apparently is in the authors' employ), and we have tried various foods (though not lettuce and tomato sandwiches - everyone knows that George doesn't care for green food).
I open the kennel door, and with a fart and a stretch, George begins his day. Flights of farts and fancy aside, George remains at home where he belongs. Poor George does indeed get the blame for any and all suspicious smells, including those emanating from backsides decidedly less doggish (you know who you are, "Uncle Irv"). If it can but help one family, one other Walter, or George (or 30-something English computer programmer) retain his happy home, it will have been worth the sacrifice. And so, you see, I cannot bring myself to pursue legal recourse. And I have never once (well, maybe once) threatened to send him back to his mother in England - so why would I return George.Though, George does fart. For Kotzwinkle and Murray, from their objective (and odor-free) distance, have distilled our malodorous little family saga to its universal essence; have made it a story of compassion, a story of acceptance, and, ultimately, a story of redemption. But it's our story; really.
I accept this. He farts as he walks around the house - in the dining room and kitchen. After all, my husband farts. The way he said it was ever-so-slightly more salty).
This book can be very funny at times, but I believe that the illustrations can be very scary for young ones to look at.Yes, there are better books out there, but this book gives some kids a good laugh, but while reading this book to our kids, we should teach them that farting is inappropriate in public.
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