Review: farty fun for kids
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 18, 2013
If you're past the fourth grade, Arthur Pong And His Smelly Song is not for you. However, youngsters will giggle uncontrollably through this 28-page tale of a boy with the voice of angel who can't help passing gas as he sings. Author Jose Fernandez sprinkles delightful illustrations throughout the book, and purchasers can download an audiobook version of the book for free. What self-respecting child could resist a book about farty music?While some missing punctuation and the unevenness of the rhyming might irritate an adult, children will certainly not notice. The books ends with Arthur's family joining him in a flatulent festival of song, which should send juvenile readers into fits of laughter.The final chapter, "Sing and Be Proud," urges readers to "Be yourself and you will never be wrong / Just like Arthur Pong and his wonderful song"; to me, that strikes a cloying note, and Fernandez would have been better off simply leaving it out. The moral seems tacked on and out of place. He does redeem himself with a farewell wish for readers of "happy farting... I mean... reading!" Now THAT irreverence is the way to end a book like this!I received this ebook as a gift from the author, but that gesture -- while kind and welcome -- did not influence this review.