Poop Happened

Albee, S. (2010). Poop happened! A history of the world from the bottom up. New York: Walker & Company.

Being alternately attracted to, grossed out by, and falling-in-the-floor laughing at, I have to recommend this book to all ye curious folks out there, great and small. Sarah Albee does a masterful job of putting together her research using humorous chapter titles such as, Poop Matters; Origin of the Feces; When in Rome, Poo as the Romans Do; The Age of Shovelry; and I Smell London, I Smell France. Illustrations in shades of green and blue throughout include drawings by Robert Leighton, photos, paintings, and replicas of old posters and newspapers.

Graphically organized with boxed information, pull-outs and illustrations so that text-heavy pages do not look text-heavy, the book is a delight to read. Font size is large enough for these old eyes, and I believe that 8 year-old-eyes will like it as well.

At times some of the information seemed redundant, but not enough to keep me from learning more than I probably wanted to know about sewage, poop, and hideous diseases. This book DOES make me very happy to live in the 21st century! Even though we had an outhouse when I was little, my Dad managed to get an indoor toilet as soon as he could afford it. I am GRATEFUL for my crapper!