The World of Poo

I usually don't start with the narrator of an audio book, but in this case I must! After listening to Stephen Briggs, Nigel Planer and Tony Robinson bringing the Discworld to life, I thought that no other narrator can ever be in the same class as the three of them. Helen Atkinson-Wood has proven me wrong. What an excellent narration of "The World of Poo"! She didn't only bring the characters to life, she sketched them vividly and in full colour on the canvass of your mind.

That brings us to "Miss Felicity Beedle's The World of Poo." In "Snuff", Terry Pratchett's last Discworld novel, Commander Samuel Vimes' son becomes entranced by Miss Felicity Beedle's "The World of Poo." Thus starting as a parody on books like "The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew It Was None of His Business" (Werner Holzwarth), this book got a life of its own, starting of as an idea in a novel and becoming a Discworld story on its own.

Starting of with Miss Beedle's Foreword, Pratchett opens up the importance of poo to those who would ordinarily only laugh at it in some or other crude joke. Geoffrey is a little boy visiting his grandmother in Ankh Morpork where he becomes interested in this smelly subject. This ensures not only a heartily laugh or a chuckle here and there, but envelops the reader on a new take things like recycling, money, the yellow river Ankh and well... you know... poo. With Geoffrey you will meet some well-known Ankhmorpork characters from a different angle, even gargoyles are given a chance to show what they've got!

I really enjoyed the story, even if it left some odour behind. What type of Discworld book is it? It is short, with enough of a pong for adults to enjoy, but I am sure that I will wait for my daughter to grow up a lot more, before I might read it to her. ... In the mean time, my wife can listen to it.

We grabed this thinking it wold be fun typical Terry Pratchett, nope its for children.
It was well read and im sure there is some sort of fun and learning about poo for kids but its not for adults

The World of Poo is a necessary guidebook for any hopeful tourist to the Discworld. We follow young Jeffry as he travels to the bustling city of Ankh Morpork for the first time. Along the way, Jeffry discovers the amazing world of Poo in all it's many forms. We examine the poo of some of the Disc's most fascinating animals, from the elephants of Hawandaland to the Gargoyles of the great city. We even journey into Harry King's personal poo empire.


The World of Poo is a creative piece of "children's literature" and draws upon many of the characters and places we are familiar with from other Discworld novels. Pratchett captures the viewpoint of a six-year-old boy who has a curiosity for poop... as do all little boys. Especially interesting is his description of the changing digestive system of the Ankh Morporkian gargoyles.

One cannot help but wonder... what kind of poop does great Atuan produce?

This is a book I would listen to again and recommend to parents. Many interesting facts are woven into the story of the young boy and easily understood by all ages.

I have wanted to read this book because it was written by my favourite author, and also because I wanted to see how he presented the material. It is mentioned in "Snuff".

I liked the Grandmother's attitude. Though proper, she had an understanding of what fascinates young boys.

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The scene i like best was the animals in Vetinarie's menagerie specially the mere-cats.

What i like best is seeing Ank-Morpok from a different point of view.

A plot worthy of the author. Terry Pratchett is much better than this.

This listen was flat, no plot, no no thought, no challange for the mind. A little poo is funny, a lot of poo is just poo over and over. Half star anyone?

She tried her best, but she could not save this piece of poo.

I love Terry Pratchett's books. This book grew out of Snuff as a plot device, however on its own it is just sad.

I hoped this would be like Where's My Cow, something to share with my grandson. Just too much poo - even for his eight year old mind, and WAY too much for my 60 year old mind. I'll recommend Terry Pratchett's books to anyone, that is except this one.

Something more clever and informative would have been nice. Seemed like Pratchett was overly tickled to hear someone with a proper English accent say 'poo' and other scatological synonyms.

We did not enjoy listening to her performance.