In Praise of Grossology
The AP takes a look at a problem we are all familiar with; reluctant readers, particularly boys. Children’s librarians have the key,
Butts, farts. Whatever, said Amelia Yunker, a children’s librarian in Farmington Hills, Mich. She hosted a grossology party with slime and an armpit noise demonstration. “Just get ’em reading. Worry about what they’re reading later.”
Fourth-grade teacher Ray Sabini, aka Ray Bean, used the same principle in writing a book for boys. Called Sweet Farts, it’s about a boy who invents a way to make farts smell good. Sabini says he uses boy humor to give boys lessons in history, science and bullying. The book rose to #3 on Amazon, catching the attention of AmazonEncore, the recently-formed publishing arm of Amazon, which will publish the sequel, Sweet Farts: Rippin’ It Old School in August.
Both books are also published in audio by Brilliance, which was bought by Amazon in 2007.
 |
|
Brilliance Audio, UNABR; On-sale Date, 8/2/10; Listen to sample
2 CD’s; 9781441883742; $39.97
1 MP3-CD; 978-1441883766; $39.97
————————–
Sabini self-pubbed the original title with BookSurge (now changing its name to CreateSpace), which was acquired by Amazon in 2005.
 |
|
Brilliance Audio, UNABR; On-sale Date, 8/2/10; Listen to sample
2 CD’s; 9781441883636; $39.97
1 MP3-CD; 9781441883650; $39.97