Andy Griffiths is an Aussie author with the sense of humor of a five year old. Which is excellent, because he writes books directly intended for this age group. Bum jokes, poop jokes, fart jokes. It’s a smorgasbord of hilarity to a juvenile, and caused my son cackle out loud throughout our reading of it.
The Day My Bum Went Psycho tells the tale of Zack, a perfectly normal kid with a bum who’s hell-bent on world domination. The story begins with Zack catching his bum sneaking out his window and disappearing into the night. When he eventually finds his bum, he’s on stage in front of thousands of disgruntled butts, preaching about the need to bring in a new age for mankind, where the butts reign supreme. To demonstrate, Zack’s bum ‘rearranges’ a human – swapping a face for a butt, thus letting the butts finally have their day in the sun.
This kicks off a grotesque adventure through the Methane Desert, the Sea of Bums, eventually culminating in a final confrontation at the formidable Bumcano. A colourful collection of characters join along the way, including Eleanor (daughter of the great Bum Hunter himself), the Smacker, the Kicker, the Kisser, and poor putrid Ned Smelly.
But you could probably guess all that from the title alone, right?
It’s not easy to keep upping the ante with a gross-out bum book, by Griffiths is the master. For each revolting creature our reluctant hero encountered, new and inventive adjectives and descriptions came into play. It may sound silly, but writing a cohesive and engaging chapter book about a psycho bum is not easy. My son absolutely loved this book and was thrilled to have it read to him every night. While not exactly a calming bedtime story, it was nevertheless effective at keeping him engaged and begging for more… And I consider that an absolute win.
5 Great White Bums out of 5.