My mother-in-law must really dislike me.

On her last trip to visit, she came bearing books for my almost-three-year-old son Luke.  The book that stole the show?  Farts in the Wild: A Spotter’s Guide.

Yes.  She bought my son a fart book.

And he LOVES it.

This little gem details farts from the smallest creatures (goldfish) up to the largest creatures (elephants), with eight lovely additional animals in between.  It could be slightly educational as it also provides facts and stats about each creature’s farting habits, but that’s not what Luke likes about it.

Off to the side of the text is a panel with ten little buttons on it.  Oh, yes.  Push the buttons and you will hear a sample of the corresponding creature’s fart accompanied by the creature’s distinctive call.  The goldfish blubs, the cat meows, the elephant trumpets, but they all fart.

A preschooler’s dream.

A parent’s worst nightmare.

And yet…

As I watched Luke play with this book on day eight (yes, I was definitely counting the days), I realized he was doing something interesting with it and not just pressing buttons randomly anymore.  Luke had his music player next to him, and he had This Old Man on repeat.  As the song played, he pressed the number that the singer sang.  Woah, I thought. That’s kind of cool.  And on day nine, I watched Luke unfold his fingers one by one, counting as he pressed the ten little buttons.  Woah. That’s even cooler!

In true preschooler fashion, Luke turned an otherwise annoying toy into something pretty cool.  And, as an added bonus, without any outside help, it became something educational.  Authentic, self-directed learning at its finest.

So, even though I’d rather not hear animal farts all day long, I do have to admit my own lesson learned about the amazing capacities of children and the endless possibilities of books.

I’d love to hear about how your child repurposed an old or uninspired book.  Please leave a comment!