Product Description

Did you know that a castle's moat was a means of disposing waste material or that King Louis the XIV and XIII both conducted business while on their "special thrones"? Charise Harper uncovers these and many more fascinating facts about poop and other things bathroom-related in Flush: The Scoop on Poop Throughout the Ages. Fun and humorous poems are accompanied by sidebars full of interesting information. Her zany, eye-catching illustrations will appeal to all ages, and readers will delight in the attention-getting and disgusting subject: the history of poop.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1271899 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780316010641
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4–In rhyming verse supplemented by entertaining sidebars, this snappy title gives a tour of the history of human waste. The poems, heavy on potty humor and gross details, take readers on a journey from the time before toilet paper and the very first toilets (8000 B.C.) to those of today, including the kinds that astronauts use. While the rhyme scheme is a little inconsistent, each poem is so full of interesting trivia that readers will hardly notice. This title will make kids really think about the realities of one of their favorite subjects. Colorful cartoons punctuate the text while also adding to the silliness. Unfortunately, the last poem offers a weak conclusion to the slightly more sophisticated bathroom humor of the previous rhymes (Lets do it all together./Not a whisper, give a shout:/'POOPY! POOPY! POOPY!/is what this books about! Still, kids will enjoy this quick and informative read, and it will work well when paired with Susan E. Goodmans The Truth about Poop (Viking, 2004) and Patricia Laubers What You Never Knew about Tubs, Toilets, and Showers (S & S, 2001).–Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Harper's picture-book overview of the evolution of excrement disposal--from the invention of toilets "over 10,000 years ago" to toilets in space--has everything some kids delight in: shock value, weird facts, and gross-out references. It's also a fascinating book, made cheerful by Harper's acrylic-and-collage illustrations. The material is organized in two-page chapters: on the left is a rhyming text; on the right are a full-color illustration and "Fun Facts" (often the best bits in the book) that run down the right margin. Readers will discover the uses of urine, read about Louis XIV's habit of holding meetings on a toilet shaped as a throne, learn that Elizabeth I rejected the first mechanical toilet, and more. Yucky? You bet . . . but this information will draw lots of comments in and out of the classroom. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
What, you ask, is a chamber pot? / Well, here are things that it is not. / It's not a pot to keep your money, / pretty flowers, toys, or honey." Delivering juicy nuggets of cultural and historical information, both in fluent verse and in running prose commentary, this child-riveting study wipes Nicola A. Davies's The Truth about Poop, illus by Elwood H. Smith (2004), off the map. Harper opens with a tally of the uses to which urine has been put worldwide (surrounded by "Don't try this at home" warnings), closes with a rousing, gleefully repetitive paean to poop and spreads piquant observations on toilet paper's predecessors, waste disposal through history and like topics in between. She illustrates it all with discreetly posed, Maira Kalman - style figures rendered in decidedly un-sludgy colors. Young listeners plunging into this savory survey will come away with tasty new words like "gongfermor" and "garderobe," plenty of eminently share-worthy facts (Rome's Cloaca Maxima is 16 feet wide, which is "43 sandwiches long / if you lay them side by side") and sore cheeks - the facial sort - from laughing. (Picture book/poetry/nonfiction. 6-10) (Kirkus Reviews)

Customer Reviews

If the object is to present a fun view of history, FLUSH is the item of choice.
People used to take boat tours of the Paris sewer system, in Medieval times waste was just thrown out of windows onto streets, and chamber pots were for anything but flowers: these are but a few of the fun facts about waste management presented in FLUSH!, which takes all ages on a historical tour punctuated by fun cartoons. If the object is to present a fun view of history, FLUSH is the item of choice.

Everyone Poops!
Everyone poops. It's a normal bodily function, so why not find out how our bodily wastes have been handled through the ages. In general this book was written for 8-12 yr olds, but as an adult, I enjoyed it,found it very interesting and even learned a few things. The author has done a cute job with making the information available in rhyme and funny drawings. I plan to give this book to my 10 yr old nephew.