Children’s Books About Poop and Farts
Many kids have trouble with digestion, painful bowel movements, or food sensitivities. Open communication about what is happening is important part of helping them feel good. Yet, society tells us that farts and poop are embarrassing. Books that explain digestion in ways that kids can understand can help. For some kids, it can help to embrace kids’ humor as a way to open communication, and if you are fresh out of poop jokes, you can use these books to help you find a vocabulary that works for your children. As always, each of these books is a little different and will work for different kids. I think all 5 deserve a place in every GI office and pediatric office. Read more below to find which book deserves a place on your home book shelf or maybe even on the back of your home toilet.
Use the links to see pages and other reviews of each title. If you purchase through the links, I do receive a small commission that allows me to spend time find you all great books.
What is poo? By Katie Daynes
This book is another lift the flap book by Usbourne. If you have a young child who likes to talk about poop or you have a kid that doesn’t want to talk about poop and you’d like to show them that it's okay to talk about their body and the things that come from it, this book could be good for both. The book talks about where poop goes when you flush, different animals’ poop, what poop is, everyone poops, different uses for poop (including that it can tell doctors what is going on with your body), and more. It is all written in simple language with sweet illustrations that make it great for young kids.
https://amzn.to/3R7wiN8
I’m Trying to Love Farts by Bethany Barton
What a ridiculous title… but it fits because this book uses kids' ridiculous love of fart humor to engage while also educating. There are two kids in this book, a girl who is attempting to educate the reader on what causes farts, why they smell, why they are good, how farts affect animals and more and a boy who thinks farts are funny and lightens the book with his commentary. If your kids think farts are funny, this book could be a great way to educate them about the body processes and microbes that cause them. Even if your child isn’t into farts, this book does a nice job using simple language to explain a body process and normalize farts as something that everyone experiences, making kids less self-conscious. Great for elementary school and middle school kids. A great addition to any GI office!
https://amzn.to/4vzrOxK
Poops and Farts: The Bottom Line by Stepanka Sekaninova
This book capitalizes on kids that think poop and farts are funny, and then makes it educational. It doesn’t dig too deep into any aspect, but it covers poop color/shape, diarrhea/constipation (causes/remedies), the history of the toilet and toilet paper, weird stories about different animal poops and uses for poop in history, and more. This book probably isn’t the best tool to explain medical issues, but if you have a kiddo who is struggling with GI issues this book could definitely help in normalizing, building a general understanding, and finding the humor in life.
https://amzn.to/3SEBoAT
My Digestive System by Emily Raij
The book is straightforward and explains the digestive process in easy-to-understand language. From taking a bite to pooping, the book talks about the entire process in a simple way. This book would be good for early elementary school kids as they build an accurate understanding of how their body works.
https://amzn.to/4oY63Fw
Stickmen’s Guide to Your Gurgling Guts by John Farndon
This book covers so much about how your body processes foods, plus a lot of interesting extras about every aspect of the process. This book has lots of medical illustrations to enhance understanding and a few silly illustrations to lighten things up. This book took on a lot of aspects that other books don’t including how the liver functions, how diabetes occurs, what a kidney does, artificial and donor kidneys, the appendix, good bacteria, and more. I think older elementary school kids and middle schoolers would love it.
https://amzn.to/4gfmbQx
