A very thorough account of solving London's sewage issues and how sewers came to be in the 1800's. The illustrations tell half of the story. The illustrations are particularly impactful when showing skeletons to portray people dying from sewage born illnesses. The illustrations seem simple, but many the people's expressions are very apparent. The book ends with a summary of the state of "poop pollution today", providing specific examples of areas that still have some of the problems that London did before it had a sewer system. ( )

Recommended Ages: Gr. 3-5

Plot Summary: Long ago, human poop was collected inside homes. When it got full, men came to empty it. But as more and more people lived in London, eventually they just had the poop flow directly into the water. When a cholera outbreak occurred, everything thought it was spread through bad smells. No one knew it was from contaminated water. It took 4 major cholera outbreaks before the connection was finally made, thankfully for the last one, an engineer named Joseph Bazalgette had already routed much of the city's poop to a different location down the river so it only impacted part of the city. That sewage systems that Joseph created is still partially in use today,

Setting: London, 1500-1874

Characters:

Recurring Themes: health crisis, pollution, water pollution, sewage, engineering, Cholera

Controversial Issues: none, but mentioned poop a lot in a humorous way

Personal Thoughts: Well-written, entertaining. Concepts explained in an age-appropriate way. Highly recommended.

Genre: Non-fiction, narrative non-fiction

Pacing: beginning is faster than the end
Characters:
Frame:
Storyline:

Activity: ( )

"The Great Stink" is a picture book showing how Joseph Bazalgette engineered a new sewer system that cleans the river. There are graphic illustrations showing skeletons with living people depicting the losses due to cholera from the smelly water in the River Thames and how people were affected by his invention. The book gives tips on preventing pollution today and covers history, ecology, science, and technology. ( )

Scatological history - what could have more appeal? This is a thorough look at London's sewage problem and the civil engineer, Joseph Bazalgette, who finally solved it.

The watercolor and ink illustrations show fantastic attention to detail and excellent humor, blending the realistic with the cartoonish; pale green endpapers are decorated with illustrations of wriggly viruses.

Back matter includes four pages on "Poop Pollution Today," a detailed timeline, an author's note, further reading, a selected bibliography, and acknowledgments.

See also: The Polio Pioneer (children's), The Ghost Map (adult) ( )