The Great Stink: How Joseph Bazalgette Solved London's Poop Pollution Problem

Author Colleen Paeff and illustrator Nancy Carpenter join forces in this picture book biography of Joseph Bazalgette, the 19th-century British engineer responsible for the construction of London's first comprehensive sewer system. A series of cholera epidemics in that great city were the result of the rampant pollution of the River Thames, swimming with the waste from myriad disorganized sewer pipes, following the breakdown of London's historic cesspool system, in which nightsoil men carted away waste to the countryside. Although the consensus was that polluted air, or "miasma," was the culprit, in fact the illness was water-borne. After the "Great Stink" of 1858, in which a heat wave made the stench of the Thames unbearable, Parliament show more was finally ready to approve Bazalgette's plan for a sweeping new sewer system, and construction began...

I sought out The Great Stink: How Joseph Bazalgette Solved London's Poop Pollution Problem after greatly enjoying Paeff's second picture book biography, Firefly Song: Lynn Frierson Faust and the Great Smoky Mountain Discovery, and am glad that I did. I found the narrative engaging and informative, and the watercolor and ink artwork from illustrator Nancy Carpenter expressive and enjoyable. The subject here is well worth exploring, and while the humorous "poop" jokes will find their audience with younger children, the themes of pollution and disease, and the role of ingenuity and engineering in offering solutions, should also have their appeal. I spent my summers during high school working for my county's youth conservation corps, clearing trails in forests and quarries and building boardwalks in swamps. As part of that job, I went on numerous field trips of an ecological nature, including to a local sewage treatment plant, where I learned about secondary and tertiary treatment of waste, and the larger issue of waste and rainwater runoff being funneled through the same systems. It was a stinky but educational experience! Given that personal history, I found this title particularly interesting, but I think young readers in general will also find it engrossing. The extensive back matter includes a note on poop pollution today and solutions some communities have found, a detailed timeline, a list of further reading, and a bibliography. Highy recommended—I hope Paeff will write some more non-fiction for young people! show less

Scatological history - what could have more appeal? This is a thorough look at London's sewage problem and the civil engineer, Joseph Bazalgette, who finally solved it.

The watercolor and ink illustrations show fantastic attention to detail and excellent humor, blending the realistic with the cartoonish; pale green endpapers are decorated with illustrations of wriggly viruses.

Back matter includes four pages on "Poop Pollution Today," a detailed timeline, an author's note, further reading, a selected bibliography, and acknowledgments.

See also: The Polio Pioneer (children's), The Ghost Map (adult)

Recommended Ages: Gr. 3-5

Plot Summary: Long ago, human poop was collected inside homes. When it got full, men came to empty it. But as more and more people lived in London, eventually they just had the poop flow directly into the water. When a cholera outbreak occurred, everything thought it was spread through bad smells. No one knew it was from contaminated water. It took 4 major cholera outbreaks before the connection was finally made, thankfully for the last one, an engineer named Joseph Bazalgette had already routed much of the city's poop to a different location down the river so it only impacted part of the city. That sewage systems that Joseph created is still partially in use today,

Setting: London, 1500-1874

Characters:

Recurring show more Themes: health crisis, pollution, water pollution, sewage, engineering, Cholera

Controversial Issues: none, but mentioned poop a lot in a humorous way

Personal Thoughts: Well-written, entertaining. Concepts explained in an age-appropriate way. Highly recommended.

Genre: Non-fiction, narrative non-fiction

Pacing: beginning is faster than the end
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Activity: show less

A very thorough account of solving London's sewage issues and how sewers came to be in the 1800's. The illustrations tell half of the story. The illustrations are particularly impactful when showing skeletons to portray people dying from sewage born illnesses. The illustrations seem simple, but many the people's expressions are very apparent. The book ends with a summary of the state of "poop pollution today", providing specific examples of areas that still have some of the problems that London did before it had a sewer system.

"The Great Stink" is a picture book showing how Joseph Bazalgette engineered a new sewer system that cleans the river. There are graphic illustrations showing skeletons with living people depicting the losses due to cholera from the smelly water in the River Thames and how people were affected by his invention. The book gives tips on preventing pollution today and covers history, ecology, science, and technology.