Surprising to me, and possibly to the readers of this blog was that Walter the Farting Dog, written by William Kotzwinkle and Glenn Murray, was the book that I found most offending out of all of the controversial books this week. It wasn't so much that I found the book offensive, I more so found it to be obnoxious. I didn't really understand why there is a book written about a dog that just farts all the time and has really gross illustrations to go along with this. As I write this, I am thinking that I may come across to some as a little conservative in terms of topics, but I'm more conservative in writing about bodily functions in children's lit. I believe that if it represents some sort of teaching value or lesson, then writing about this sort of thing would be okay, but I just think it's supposed to be funny. I didn't think it was funny. I also didn't really like the illustrations that were drawn in almost a realistic way. Overall, I can understand why children would like this book, I just didn't have a positive response to it. I probably won't go out and buy this book for my children but I also wouldn't banish it from my classroom either.
I read this book as well, and there are some things I agree and disagree with you on. I also found this book very obnoxious. It was gross (especially the pictures). However, children seem to really enjoy the gross-out factor (at least some that I know). Although I was not a huge fan, I can see why others may really enjoy this book. I thought the dog's character was developed well (he truly was a good dog, aside from his "problem"). He loved his family, and he wanted to stay with them. I really liked this aspect of the plot. I agree with you about allowing this book in a classroom. It may not be my personal taste exactly, but I do see some positive elements. The aspects of the book I liked (the relationships, the dogs character, etc) may be overlooked by children reading it. Therefore, I would not be opposed to reading it to my future children or students. I think it is a little dramatic for individuals to think this book is extremely controversial. It has some obnoxious elements, but I don't think it should be banned in any situation.
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