Book Review: EVERYBODY POOPS 410 POUNDS A YEAR

It might be smelly, but poop is fascinating. Just ask any kid who has read or been read to EVERYONE POOPS by Taro Gomi. The discussion of such a topic can easily lead to toilet humor, but when you’re talking about poop, that’s to be expected. EVERYBODY POOPS 410 POUNDS A YEAR is kind of the adult version of EVERYONE POOPS. It’s a tasteful, yet humorously illustrated book full of facts about poop. Through a series of illustrated diagrams, the book shows what happens to your poop after you flush it. It also tells you what different colors and shapes of poop mean, why you can see corn in your poop, the things people used to use before toilet paper, and whether or not you can use your poop for fuel. The two tidbits I found most fascinating were that:

1. When horses were still the major source of transportation, there were 100,000 horses in New York City that produced 2.5million pounds of manure a day. In the winter the city built up an interesting mixture of snow and manure that raised the street levels up to five feet. That’s why the buildings in the historic district have lifted, second-story stoops.

2. The Chicago River used to flow into Lake Michigan. However, the Chicago River is also where the city used to dump all of its waste. This was a problem because Lake Michigan is where they got their water. So, instead of actually dealing with their sewage problem, the people reversed the course of the Chicago River so it no longer flowed into Lake Michigan, but eventually flowed into the Mississippi River instead. Talk about being caught up s*#t creek without a paddle.

I thoroughly enjoyed EVERYBODY POOPS 410 POUNDS A YEAR. I found it entertaining and educational. It’s a great “adult kid’s book” (as the blurb on the back says), but I just wish it were a little longer.