Kirkus Reviews QR Code
SOMEONE FARTED by Bruce Eric Kaplan

SOMEONE FARTED

by Bruce Eric Kaplan ; illustrated by Bruce Eric Kaplan

Pub Date: April 17th, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4814-9063-4
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Can one stinky toot land the whole Krupke family in the clink?

On the way to do the “dreaded” grocery shopping, someone in the Krupke car cuts a biscuit. Sally is the one who smelt it, but no one owns up to having dealt it. The smell gets so bad that their mother wonders if she will faint, and brother Vinnie wonders if they will be poisoned. When their mother sprays hand sanitizer and it gets in their father’s eyes as he drives, he nearly hits a pedestrian. Sally and Vinnie begin throwing things at each other, and one of their toys hits the responding police officer—and the whole family is thrown into jail and interrogated. Still, no one owns up to shooting the fairy. In the holding cell with thieves and kidnappers, both parents and Vinnie allow that each could have been the culprit (and one of the kidnappers is sure Sally’s lying). An impassioned speech before the judge frees the family…but, unfortunately, they still have to get groceries. Kaplan’s gassy guignol will elicit titters at the toot references and a giggle or two at the hyperbolic cause-and-effect plot. The simple watercolor-and-ink illustrations depict scribbly figures with vacant, Little Orphan Annie eyes that accentuate the droll humor. The Krupkes and the cop are pink-skinned; the other criminals are mildly diverse, and the judge has brown skin.

For slightly sophisticated connoisseurs of the crass.

(Picture book. 4-9)