If you know me, I was drawn to Bethany Barton’s book because I already like farts, so I wanted to see how the girl in I’m Trying to Love Farts (or Flatulence) (due in November 2025; read via an online reader) book would make others convert, too.
Our main character is a young girl who loves science. So, she loves the way that there is a science behind farts. Her younger brother just likes farting. There are a lot of gags (and not just due to the smells) and fun. There are facts about animals (termites, sloths, humans) and how it is all broken down in the end. Far from technical, we do get the facts, but not just the facts and only the dry facts. The illustrations are exactly like the cover and there are no surprises. I would really like the tool they use to get rid of the gaseous green fumes coming from their (and cows and horses and other) posteriors (I mean, I have nephews and a baby niece in my life.)
This is a familiar theme, and therefore the information is not new. After all, farts have been around since the first creature that did a fart. Afterall, the oldest recorded joke was a fart joke. But the way Barton presents things, it is fresh (unlike the flatulence). It works well as an introduction to the subject. It is far from being serious by any stretch of the imagination, but there are facts in the middle of the jokes. I will add to my reading list the others in this series: I’m Trying to Love Germs, I’m Trying to Love Spiders, I’m Trying to Love Rocks, I’m Trying to Love Math, Give Bees a Chance, and I’m Trying to Love Garbage.
