Walter the Farting Dog

William Kotzwinkle's Walter the Farting Dog is a gloriously rude picture book for 5 year olds about a dog with one very big problem.

What happens

Betty and Billy bring Walter home from the pound. Nobody else wanted him. They love him anyway.

Mother thinks he smells awful, so he gets a bath. That's when the family spot the first clue (the bubbles give it away).

Walter isn't poorly. His tummy's perfectly fine. He just farts. In the kitchen, in the dining room, while he plays and even in his sleep.

The vet gives it a very grand medical name and suggests a change of diet. So the family try everything. Dog food, cat food, hot dogs, rabbit food. They even make him a vegetarian! Nothing works.

Then Father decides enough is enough. Walter's going back to the pound in the morning.

That night the children cry in their beds, and Walter makes up his mind to never fart again. It goes brilliantly right up until he finds the huge bag of special biscuits in the cupboard and eats the lot.

And then, with a gigantic gas bubble building inside him, he hears a noise at the kitchen window...

You can probably guess where this is heading. Honestly, that's half the fun. Little ones will see it coming a mile off and love every second of the build-up.

It's made for reading out loud. The repeated lines are easy to join in with, and there's one big noisy moment near the end that pretty much begs for sound effects. Be ready to do the voices (and the noises).

There's a sneaky joke for grown-ups too. Whenever Uncle Irv lets one slip, he goes and stands next to Walter and says his name. Who hasn't been blamed for something they didn't do?

Father is especially relieved the burglars didn't get away with the VCR, which might need explaining!

What to read next

If toilet humour goes down a storm in your house, My Monster Farts is the obvious next one. Zach has a pet monster called Lenny that hardly anyone can see, so guess who gets the blame every time Lenny lets rip?