Customer Reviews

The Big Book of Gross Stuff

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First, I want you to know that I am a girl and I want everyone to know about this great book. I am a middle school student so I love gross stuff. One day I brought The Big Book of Gross Stuff to my English class. When my class saw the title they wanted to read the book.

One of my favorite chapters was Everyone Poops. Here are some reasons. Number one, it made me want to barf. Number two, on page 105 in the chapter there was a chart about human poop. I have referred to it a few times. Number three, it really talks about poop facts so you can entertain your friends while you are reading the book.

This is a book that kids will want to finish because it is way more interesting and relevant than some of the things they teach at school. I have only one question for the author, did you really go hiking in Switzerland in only your underwear?

`The Big Book of Gross Stuff'is exactly what it sounds like. Stuffed with the trivia, facts, and history of everything nasty, Bart King's latest book shares all you ever wanted to know about the gross stuff that enters and exits the human body. The book starts with birth ("You'll have every different liquid in your body coming out of every orifice. It's a rainbow of color!") and sallies bravely through life, sharing all the details on farts, bacteria, and belly button lint. Big green vomit-splats fill the pages, each one containing additional information like "Rumpology: Determining Fate From the Shape of Your Bum."

It's written to target kids 8-14, but at 25 I still found this incredibly entertaining. Sure, it's absolutely gross, but it's what kids (and adults) want to know! I was surprised by how much information was in this book. Yeah, there's a lot of corny jokes and silliness, but you end up learning a lot about how the body produces its different fluids. There's lots of illustrations, but it's primarily text.

I'm a chart person, so I was delighted by the page that had a chart detailing farts. One column for a food, one column for the sound that food's fart would make, and a column for the reactions of anyone nearby. Brilliant! Plus the onomatopoeia is fantastic. Who knew that prune farts sound like `shiggety-burple?' Or that a cauliflower fart is best described as `proodle-proodle?' (Man, I am so juvenile.)

I also love that the book has a reversible cover for readers who don't wish others to know what they're reading. Turn the cover inside out and you have a mock-composition notebook labeled `Biology' instead of a lime-green `The Big Book of Gross Stuff'.

"What makes it gross?" It is just that question that is answered by Bart King. You know Bart King, the author of The Pocket Guide to Mischief, The Pocket Guide to Brilliance, and the ever-popular The Big Book of Boy Stuff. This book is very much in keeping with Bart King's other books - it is chockfull of strange, disturbing and just plain weird facts about gross things.

That's right, as you can tell from the above description, this book is bound to be a hit with any teenage reader, or any teen-at-heart reader for that matter. My son and his friends really liked this book, and we all give it a hearty thumbs-up!

The Big Book of Gross Stuff is not only fun, but it's packed with stealth science. Any kid who reads the book will come out the other end a lot smarter and will have a great time doing it. Bart King is a wonderful writer with an uncanny ability to appeal to young readers. I can't wait to start gifting this book, and I really want to be there when the recipients read it.

I don't want to reinforce stereotypes, but for lots of tweens and teens, all things disgusting suddenly become appealing. For those kids, this book delivers the goods and then some. While there's loads of history and science, in here, it's deftly handled and --most importantly-- it's funny!

Can your kids handle the grossness? There's not much here that wouldn't be covered in a good junior high science class. But just in case, try using the humorous scale the author provides near the front of the book by which readers can classify their tolerance for all things disgusting. And even for the worst material, the humorous way that gross stuff is handled actually makes it seem...less gross. (BTW, did you know there is only ONE bodily fluid that isn't gross to anyone on the planet? See the answer below!)

I think that this book would especially appeal to reluctant readers who may not normally tackle nonfiction, much less a "big" book.

Answer to question: Tears!

If you have younger kids, especially boys, you know that "gross" things rule their world. The grosser, the better. Since you're probably not going to be able to get them to give up their predilection for grossness, you might as well have them learn a thing or two in the process. Bart King's book would be perfect to turn "gross" into a learning activity... The Big Book of Gross Stuff. King dives into the subject in his typical tongue-in-cheek fashion, and it's the right style to keep your kids turning the pages (much to your dismay if you have to be the one reading it to them!)

Contents:
A Note On The Writing Of This Book; What Makes It Gross?; Gross Quiz!; The Miracle Of Birth; The Stream Of Life; Animals!; Breaking The Wind; Monsters!; Everyone Poops; It's A Gross Job, But I Don't Want To Do It!; Toilets!; Putting Your Best Food Forward; Sewers!; Gross Anatomy; It's A Gross World, After All!; The Skin You're In; Food, Drink, And Other Harmless Hazards; Kicking The Bucket; Epilogue; Bibliography

It's easy to see that King had a lot of fun here. It's not often that you can deliberately be this gross and use so many bad puns, yet still be completely on-topic. But while he's doing this, he's also mixing in quite a bit of learning. Yes, everyone poops. But do you know what happens from the time the food enters your mouth looking (and smelling) one way and exits your rear looking (and again smelling) completely different? Do you know why you start to salivate heavily if you're about to "ride the Regurgitron"? And much to my surprise, urine is far from a waste product in many cultures. And yes, I'm glad I'm not part of those cultures...

If you have a weak stomach or are easily grossed out, don't read this book. Really! But if you want to give your kid something that they'll likely read from cover to cover (probably much to your dismay), give them a copy of The Big Book of Gross Stuff.

Disclosure:
Obtained From: Author
Payment: Free

Being a sixth grader, (BTW I Am A Girl) gross things wildly entertained me. Kings book defendly got me reading! I wa even tempted to buy all of kings books! My friends think that the book was awesome and bouht a copy themselves. Great buy! You wont regret buying this book at a gret price!

Sent this book to my 14 year old nephew & he absolutely loved it! Packed it in his book bag for school so he could READ in his spare time! This has never happened. He told me that this was the best book he had ever read & wanted me to find out if there was a Part 2 or other books by the same author. I guess I better take a look at this book to find out why it has gotten his attention as I check to see if there is a sequel.

im a sixth grade girl and i love this book i brought it to schaool and me and my friends thaught it was really gross. great buy though