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Summary: Exceptionally Illustrated Gas Power
Review: Yes, the book will have you and your child in stitches every time you read it; and yes, this book is hysterical reading for any age group; but the true brilliance of this tome lies in its gorgeous illustration. The artwork alone can be pored over for hours on end. And the quality of the colorful and comical illustrations only bolsters the laughing gas power of Walter, the Farting Dog. Bless you and thank you, Sir Walter!
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Summary: Irresistibly funny
Review: I teach a college children's literature course, and one of my students read this book for her oral report. While children obviously will find the book hilarious, the students in the class (and their professor) were all laughing out loud as well. I suspect that many of us don't outgrow scatalogical humor, even if we think we do. And besides the humor and the vivid, colorful illustrations, the book even has a message about acceptance and not judging others based on their surface differences. This book is a funny, yet sweet, acknowledgment of an inevitable bodily function.
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Summary: He that lives on Hope, dies Farting. Ben. Franklyn, 1736
Review: He that is conscious of A Stink in his Breeches, is jealous of every Wrinkle in another's Nose. -------Benjamin Franklyn, Poor Richard's Almanack, 1751,Thus inspired to refute the pleas of daughters and daughter's-in-law, this flatulent grandperson bought four copies of Walter, and mailed them posthaste to his grandbabies. There is something about impolite bodily functions that brings the first and third generations together to shock and affront the mommas in-between, and Walter is just that sharing of a secret language known to all, but uttered only by the infants and the senile. For the mommas and the poppas, one must resort to euphemisms such as: cutting the cheese, baking an air biscuit, squeezing the breeze, stepping on a duck, et al. [cf. "The Zen of Farting, p.25.] The same source refers to "especially deadly farts . . .as silent but deadly and silent but violent." This describes Walter's emissions accurately and succinctly. The drawings add to the vivid language in Walter, with a more than slight purple haze in each one. I especially liked the scene in the doctor's office, where Dr. Bob Smith, a proctologist of AA fame, cannot cure the Beano resistant WMD. One also remembers the unexpurgated Hamlet asking Laetares "Whether 'tis nobler to Fart and bear the Shame, or not to Fart and bear the Pain?" Hence one must give to all historians, Benjamin Franklyn's "A Letter to A Royal Academy", 1781, proposing a Project: "To discover some Drug wholesome and not disagreeable, to be mixed with our common Food, or Sauces, that shall render the Natural Discharges of Wind from our Bodies, not only inoffensive, but agreeable as Perfumes.." But such a Drug, would have prevented Walter from rallying to his family's defense when their property was in peril.
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Summary: funny entertainment with a sick sense of humor
Review: Walter, poor, poor Walter. All he can do is fart and stink up where ever he is. But, even though Walter has a small "problem," he still manages to save the day. As a teacher, I use it to get the kids' attention (with a topic most love!) to teach about differences and how differences may be quite helpful to everyone. I also use it as a great laugh. Everyone to whom I've introduced this book to loves it and I think anyone with a touch of humor will enjoy it, as well.
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Summary: Fun fiction for fans of farts!
Review: Plagued for years with flatulence problems of my own, I was happy to see that the sometimes uncontrollable release of bodily gas has finally been embraced by the mainstream culture.
Despite my condition, I've been a fan of farts since I was a little boy. Now married, with no children of my own, it's difficult to find someone that appreciates a good fart as much as I do. While books like "Everybody Poops" and "The Gas We Pass: The Story of Farts", have temporarily satisfied my need for quality fart humor, I was craving something new.
"Walter, the Farting Dog" tells the story of Walter, the farting dog. No matter what Walter does, he can't seem to stop farting... nor does he seem to care. When Walter's owners picked him up at the pound, they never imagined that his stinky bottom would become such a problem. Frustrated by the constant toxic emissions from Walter's rear orifice, his owners decided it was time to take him back to the pound.
During Walter's last night in the house, he eats an entire 25-pound bag of dog biscuits! Imagine what would happen to you if you ate an entire box of Raisin Bran. Well, Walter was about to experience the same results... only worse!
Overnight, the gas bubble slowly grew inside Walter. Growing and growing until his little doggy body couldn't take it anymore. As this is happening, a burglar breaks into the house. Walter hears the intruder, and decides to deal with him the only way he knows how (hint: it has something to do with the title of the book).
"Walter, the Farting Dog" is meant for children ages 5-8 years old, but I think adult fart fans will appreciate this well-written, and brilliantly illustrated book just as much as the kids.
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Summary: Wow, So Crudeness and Bodily Emissions Are Now Suitable...
Review: ... reading material, for pre-schoolers who may already be bombarded with same from television. What a treat--not. The author succeeds in getting cheap laughs by repeating the "F" word over and over, and by showing the mutt with clouds issuing from beneath his tail. Clever. Tacky. What was the motivation, I wonder?
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Summary: Utterly Hilarious -- recommended for Adults!
Review: This is the story is about a portly dog just adopted from the pound by two young children. He smells terrible and it's during a bubble bath that they discover why (eh em, they didn't add any bubble bath). Walter rips farts left and right - a diet change doesn't help and products like fart buster and phart-off won't mask the hideous smell. The situation eventually leads the parents to the decision that Walter must return to the pound. Walter is quite distressed by this and binges on a "25-pound bag of low-fart dog biscuits." The biscuits make the "rectal flatulence" worse and when he finally unleashes, the lethal gas ends up saving the day. I don't want to reveal everything, so if you want to know the rest....go buy the book! Also recommended: THE LOSERS' CLUB by Richard Perez
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Summary: Walter, and my libraries
Review: I work at the Ogdensburg Public Library in Ogdensburg New York. The Children's Librarian told me that she would not have this book in her library because he used "the f word". I was very surprised at this. I only stumbled upon the book because it was on the best seller list and was happy that I did. I rushed to Amazon.com and bought two of these books (one for the Ogd Public Library and one for a near-by library i work at). Do your part, and purchase Walter for your local library. I was told she wouldn't buy it because she couldn't even say..dare I say it...fart in her house when she was young. Well ladies and gentleman, in case you haven't noticed, this is not the 1940's anymore, we have progressed as a nation to the point where kids can laugh at the word fart. If libraries start banning books with the word fart what is next? Also, where do they get off having books on sex coming out of the woodwork, but no WALTER THE FARTING DOG? Thanks for hearing my rant! Matthew R. Kroeger
Ogdensburg Public Library
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Summary: I've looked at clouds from both sides now
Review: A story of a family that adopts a pooch with a problem. Walter has an air about him that conflicts with his personality. How can he turn this to a positive?
There are only two unique positive things about this book. First the title is cute; it is bound to raise an eyebrow or two. Second there is a consistent story with a moral which add a dimension missing in "Oh see Jane" books.
The rest of the book is relative neutral.
Be sure to read the sequel. This may become a series. It may even possible air.
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Summary: Dumb, Dumb, Dumb (Not to Mention Crude)
Review: Ah, yes -- the coarsening of American society continues. There was a time not so long ago when children were actually discouraged from engaging in potty humor because it was believed -- how silly can you get? -- that the goal was to raise mature people with a sense of class. Now, we're told we should make poopie jokes with our kids and laugh right along. "But kids laugh at this stuff anyway, so what's the harm? Don't be such a stick in the mud!" Funny, parenting used to be all about demanding more than gutter behavior from children and teaching them how to have manners, regardless of what they snickered about with their friends. One reviewer definitely got it right when he called this book "low-brow." Funny, I always thought that was a BAD thing. Great . . . just one more step in the process of creating a generation of low-class idiots.
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