Miss Felicity Beedle's The World of Poo
by Terry Pratchett, Peter Dennis (Illustrator), Bernhard Pearson, Isobel Pearson
Discworld: Children's Picture Books (2), Discworld (Companions — Companion to 39)
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Fantasy. Fiction. Science Fiction. Humor (Fiction.) HTML:From Snuff: 'Vimes' prompt arrival got a nod of approval from Sybil, who gingerly handed him a new book to read to Young Sam. Vimes looked at the cover. The title was The World of Poo. When his wife was out of eyeshot he carefully leafed through it. Well, okay, you had to accept that the world had moved on and these days fairy stories were probably not going to be about twinkly little things with wings. As he turned page after page, it show more dawned on him that whoever had written this book, they certainly knew what would make kids like Young Sam laugh until they were nearly sick. The bit about sailing down the river almost made him smile. But interspersed with the scatology was actually quite interesting stuff about septic tanks and dunnakin divers and gongfermors and how dog muck helped make the very best leather, and other things that you never thought you would need to know, but once heard somehow lodged in your mind.'. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
This is exactly what it seems to be -- a nostalgic children's book, both in form and content, about excrement, and set in the discworld. While I personally am on a mission to read ALL THE PRATCHETT, one could easily give this one a miss without missing anything. Much like "Where's my Cow?", it makes more sense in the context of the book than in reality -- unless your children are ardent Terry Pratchett fans, in which case, go on with your bad self.
It might actually be quite appealing to young boys who like poo, but I don't have a test group for that.
It might actually be quite appealing to young boys who like poo, but I don't have a test group for that.
I checked this book out because the title and cover intrigued me. I've heard of Terry Pratchett, and I know he passed away recently... I felt like I should read something of his. When this appeared in the check-in bin at work, I thought, "Here's my chance!" I didn't know what to expect--it was definitely humorous, dealing with all sorts of poo from all sorts of creatures; yet it was educational and entertaining at the same time.
I felt like it might be aimed at children, as it was written about a child and almost had that "I'm telling a children's story" tone to it... yet, it's cataloged as adult fiction--more specifically, it falls under the SciFi category. If nothing else, I'm re-evaluating my own personal idea of what SciFi entails.
I felt like it might be aimed at children, as it was written about a child and almost had that "I'm telling a children's story" tone to it... yet, it's cataloged as adult fiction--more specifically, it falls under the SciFi category. If nothing else, I'm re-evaluating my own personal idea of what SciFi entails.
An extra hour and a half got added to a road trip and this was on my wishlist at only 2 hours (audio). It was fun and funny, would have probably held off if I knew it was a picture book. Also, I didn't read the novel it was kind of connected to (Snuff I think).
I also thought it had something to do with Winny the Pooh, it didn't. Either way, it helped pass the time and was pretty witty.
I also thought it had something to do with Winny the Pooh, it didn't. Either way, it helped pass the time and was pretty witty.
This was definitely one of the stranger things I’ve read in recent years. The World of Poo is a Discworld-based children’s book that is referenced quite a bit in the previous Discworld book I just finished, Snuff. The main character, Geoffrey, develops a fascination with poo and starts collecting samples from various creatures he encounters, some of which are fictional Discworld creatures.
The Amazon product page lists it as being geared toward ages 8 through 12. 12 seems a little old to me, but I guess 8 sounds about right in terms of the simplicity of the story and language. On the other hand, there are a few snide comments aimed more at adults that seem likely to raise some questions. I’m also not sure the average younger child show more would fully appreciate the Discworld setting and be able to confidently sort through the mish-mash of real and fake facts, unless they’ve read some of the novels.
Anyway, it was a cute and very quick read, and it was a fun little tie-in to the main books. I may even have learned a thing or two from it, although I don’t expect those things to have any major impact on my life... show less
The Amazon product page lists it as being geared toward ages 8 through 12. 12 seems a little old to me, but I guess 8 sounds about right in terms of the simplicity of the story and language. On the other hand, there are a few snide comments aimed more at adults that seem likely to raise some questions. I’m also not sure the average younger child show more would fully appreciate the Discworld setting and be able to confidently sort through the mish-mash of real and fake facts, unless they’ve read some of the novels.
Anyway, it was a cute and very quick read, and it was a fun little tie-in to the main books. I may even have learned a thing or two from it, although I don’t expect those things to have any major impact on my life... show less
This title was mentioned in the book, "Snuff" as being one of Master Vimes favorites. It is the story of a young boy who visits Ankh-Morpork and discovers a calling in collecting as many varieties of poo as possible. I found it amusing, interesting, and a nice little addition to my Discworld collection. I like the illustrations, they are simple and sweet.
This was one of the few Pratchett books I hadn't read. That situation is now corrected. It's a short book about a kid who collects poo when he visits his grandmother in Ankh Morpork. It's charming.
A children's book set in Discworld, not quite as meta-narritive as Where's my Cow? Fun.
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Terry Pratchett was on born April 28, 1948 in Beaconsfield, United Kingdom. He left school at the age of 17 to work on his local paper, the Bucks Free Press. While with the Press, he took the National Council for the Training of Journalists proficiency class. He also worked for the Western Daily Press and the Bath Chronicle. He produced a series show more of cartoons for the monthly journal, Psychic Researcher, describing the goings-on at the government's fictional paranormal research establishment, Warlock Hall. In 1980, he was appointed publicity officer for the Central Electricity Generating Board with responsibility for three nuclear power stations. His first novel, The Carpet People, was published in 1971. His first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983. He became a full-time author in 1987. He wrote more than 70 books during his lifetime including The Dark Side of the Sun, Strata, The Light Fantastic, Equal Rites, Mort, Sourcery, Truckers, Diggers, Wings, Dodger, Raising Steam, Dragons at Crumbling Castle: And Other Tales, and The Shephard's Crown. He was diagnosis with early onset Alzheimer's disease in 2007. He was knighted for services to literature in 2009 and received the World Fantasy award for life achievement in 2010. He died on March 12, 2015 at the age of 66. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Miss Felicity Beedle's The World of Poo
- Original publication date
- 2012
- People/Characters
- Geoffrey (a boy from the shires); Grandmama (Maud, takes her grandson in her stride); Sir Harry King (rich entrepreneur of things thrown away); Widdles (the brown-and-white puppy Grandmama gives Geoffrey); Plain Old Humphrey (Humphrey Twaddle, Grandmama's elderly gardener); Lily (Grandmama's maid, she has 11 brothers and is not fond of little boys) (show all 22); Louis (a pureboy - one of the boys who collects dog poo for Sir Harry); Emma (one of Grandmama's goddaughters, helps at the dragon sanctuary); Emma Two (another helper at the dragon sanctuary); Hartley (Grandmama's cook); Mister Thwaite (owner of a sweets, tobacco, & snuff shop); Mister Twaite's parrot; Old Pediment (a gargoyle who likes toffee and cake); Pontoon (head keeper of the royal menagerie); Gus (a boy, junior assistant keeper); the Re-Director for the trout in the palace trout stream (he's rather elderly and portly); Sir Charles Lavatory (has made the world a more comfortable place); Old Joseph (cleans the Royal College of Heralds' yard); Mister Barker (one of Sir Harry's employees at the yard); Helmhammerhand (the dwarf who sounds the shift change at Sir Harry's yard); Holly (Geoffrey's little sister); Geoffrey's mama
- Important places
- Ankh-Morpork, Discworld
- Epigraph
- 'Vimes looked at the cover. The title was The World of Poo. When his wife was out of eyeshot he carefully leafed through it. Well, okay, you had to accept that the world had moved on and these days fairy stories were p... (show all)robably not going to be about twinkly little things with wings. As he turned page after page, it dawned on him that whoever had written this book, they certainly knew what would make kids like Young Sam laugh until they were nearly sick. The bit about sailing down the river almost made him smile. But interspersed with the scatology was actually quite interesting stuff about septic tanks and dunnakin divers and gongfermors and how dog muck helped make the very best leather, and other things that you never thought you would need to know, but once heard somehow lodged in your mind. Apparently it was by the author of Wee and if Young Sam had one vote for the best book ever written, then it would go to Wee. His enthusiasm was perhaps fanned all the more because a rare imp of mischief in Vimes led him to do all the necessary straining noises.'
From Snuff - First words
- What to tell children about the reality of the human world is always a subject very close to the thoughts of all parents; traditionally, requests from young ones for enlightenment as to where babies come from can be steered i... (show all)n the direction of the stork and the goosebury bush with no great harm done.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)The End
Now don't forget to wash your hands . . . - Original language
- English
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