I thought this book was hysterical. It's about two kids who bring a dog home from the pound. The dog, Walter, smells horrible so they give him a bath when they get home, but the stench doesn't go away. The family figures out that Walter has a farting problem, and that he smells so bad because he is constantly farting. They try everything to get rid of his farts, but nothing seems to work. The kids don't seem to mind Walter's farting, but the parents get fed up with all his farts and plan to send him to the pound. But something happens that night that makes the parents change their mind about Walter.
I enjoyed this book, and thought that the story was entertaining, sweet, and humorous. I understand that this book is considered controversial because it's about farting, but everyone does it so I have a hard time understanding the controversy. This books also has a sweet message about loving things the way they are. In this case the family learns to love their dog even though he farts all of the time. I definitely think that little kids will love this book. When kids are around the ages of 4-6 they think farting and burping and all other bodily functions are amusing and funny, so they will get a kick out of this book.
In addition to being funny I thought the illustrations for this book were very interesting. They are very colorful, and seem to be done with some sort of computer animation. They're very cool pictures to look at because they seem to be a mix of animation and collage. This is also an entertaining book because on almost every page of the book there is a little spider, and it's fun to try and find the spider. I could see adding this book to my classroom library because reading should be enjoyable, and I think that students will have a great time reading this book.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
"Walter the Farting Dog" By: William Kotzwinkle and Glenn Murray
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This book sounds like a lot of fun based on your enthusiastic description of it. While I think it would be an entertaining book for children to read to themselves and could be part of the classroom library, I am pretty sure I would not classify this book as a read-aloud that I would present specifically during class instruction. I do, however, think this book would be funny for parents to read to their kids as a bedtime story. I agree that preschool-aged and kindergarten-aged can't get enough of "potty talk" and find it absolutey hysterical. One of the main functions of reading is definitely for enjoyment and pleasure, and I feel you did a good job highlighting the positive aspects of this book. I also like how you presented a theme that ties in with this story: Nobody is perfect, including dogs. :)
ReplyDeleteI have not read this book, but your post makes me want to read. I think that farting is a very minor thing that children are exposed to. I agree with Katie that you did a very good job of bringing out the positive aspects of the book. I want to read this book, and I have a feeling that I will enjoy just like you did!
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