Poop Fiction

Article on children’s authors who use bathroom humor to interest young readers.

But these days, potty humor is big in the world of popular children’s literature — from the “Captain Underpants” series to such best-selling titles as “Zombie Butts from Uranus!”… Editors at Scholastic Inc., which publishes Captain Underpants, say that’s the goal — especially when it comes to kids who are “reluctant readers.”

“For many, many kids, this is the first book they read that starts them on a path of reading,” says Barbara Marcus, president of Scholastic’s children’s books division.

Librarians call such stories “book hooks,” says Barbara Genco, immediate past president of Association of Library Services to Children.