My Life as a Belching Baboon with Bad Breath by Bill Myers

Hardcover, 128 pages

Published October 31st 2005 by Thomas Nelson (first published 2005)

ISBN: 1400306345 (ISBN13: 9781400306343)

original title: My Life as a Belching Baboon with Bad Breath (The Incredible Worlds of Wally McDoogle)

2.5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis:
Wally's got a bad case of the "I WANTS!"  All his friends have way cooler stuff than he does, and he hates it. Even his prayers have turned into, "Dear God, gimmie, gimmie, gimmie, oh yeah, and gimmie some more" . . . Until Dad drags him along on some aid project to Africa . . . Until Wally gets majorly lost in the wilderness . . . Until he's attacked by hiccupping hippos, rampaging rhinos, and a herd of baboons who have some pretty weird eating habits . . . Until he meets a boy his age who shows him what really counts in life and the key to real happiness.

My Thoughts:
I can definitely see how this book would appeal to (mostly) pre-adolescent boys. It's full of body function humor, written in a way that little boys (and some girls) find extremely funny. As such, it really didn't do a whole lot for me, but I would (and hopefully will) get a kick out of hearing giggles from somewhere in the house when my kiddo is able to read this one on his own. As titles go, this one ranks near the top in terms of creativity and general hilarity, and I would venture to guess that, to some extent, it will draw kids to this book who might not otherwise be inclined to read. I mean, belching and bad breath in one title...what's better than that in the eyes of an 8 year old?? And the bonus is, of course, that there is reasonably good teaching point at the end about happiness.

I'm definitely keeping this one on the shelf for my little guy, who will likely find it hilarious, but I hope that I never have to read it again. :-)