Description
New friends Nilly and Lisa help eccentric professor Doctor Proctor to develop his latest invention, a powder that makes one fart, making them very popular at school, but someone is planning to steal the industrial-strength formula for evil purposes.
Publication
Aladdin (2010), Edition: Reprint, 288 pages
User reviews
LibraryThing member delzey
Proving that some humor is universal, this Norwegian import is a romp worthy of all the comparisons to Roald Dahl that I've read in other reviews.
Tiny Nilly moves to a new neighborhood in Oslo and discovers that his neighbor, Doctor Proctor, is a bit of a nutty professor who invents wacky,
If the subject of farting as an integral part of the narrative turns you off, if it would prevent you from enjoying a funny and engaging narrative, then that's a shame. While I certainly don't condone gratuitous use of potty humor to engage young readers we have, for better or worse, lost those days where a story like this could be told about belching or something more innocent. In fact if I think too hard about this there's a quite bit of The Absent Minded Professor in this story, which makes it hardly the most original idea. But Nesbo keeps things light and, uh, airy, and fills the story with bits of the preposterous that make it genuinely funny.
Like flushing poor Nilly down a toilet so he can escape a prison cell and swim (yes, swim) through raw sewage in order to escape, but becomes swallowed by the boa that lives there. And there's Nilly, watching as the snake's digestive juices dissolve the rubber on his shoes, accepting his fate and not the least bit frantic (maybe a little nervous)... until he notices something promising about some of the other contents in the snake's stomach. Without giving too much away, Nilly does indeed escape and Nesbo gives this image of a snake flying out the sewer drain and flailing around the skies above Oslo's harbor like a giant balloon quickly deflating.
Nesbo has, until recently, been an award-winning writer of detective fiction in Norway and this is his first foray into children's literature. Normally I get a hinky feeling when I hear about successful adult writers tapping the children's market because sometimes it feels like the author is trading on their name, and the publishers are simply going with a known quantity over seeking out quality. That isn't the case here as Nesbo clearly knows how to entertain the audience with clever, goofy humor. And I sincerely hope that the second book, Doctor Proctor and the Time Bathtub, manages to find its way to translation soon.
ALA question: Could this be a contender for the Mildred L. Batchelder award, or is it not serious enough?
Tiny Nilly moves to a new neighborhood in Oslo and discovers that his neighbor, Doctor Proctor, is a bit of a nutty professor who invents wacky,
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seemingly useless stuff. Like an industrial-strength fart powder that doesn't smell and can hurl a human into the atmosphere. Enter the villains, a set of twin boys named Truls and Trym and their Hummer driving father who plot to steal the powder and sell it to NASA before the good doctor can. And just because this sort of premise isn't weird enough there is a man-eating snake in the sewers and the problem of there being no gunpowder to set off the cannons on Norwegian Independence Day. Oh yeah, it'll all come together in the end. If the subject of farting as an integral part of the narrative turns you off, if it would prevent you from enjoying a funny and engaging narrative, then that's a shame. While I certainly don't condone gratuitous use of potty humor to engage young readers we have, for better or worse, lost those days where a story like this could be told about belching or something more innocent. In fact if I think too hard about this there's a quite bit of The Absent Minded Professor in this story, which makes it hardly the most original idea. But Nesbo keeps things light and, uh, airy, and fills the story with bits of the preposterous that make it genuinely funny.
Like flushing poor Nilly down a toilet so he can escape a prison cell and swim (yes, swim) through raw sewage in order to escape, but becomes swallowed by the boa that lives there. And there's Nilly, watching as the snake's digestive juices dissolve the rubber on his shoes, accepting his fate and not the least bit frantic (maybe a little nervous)... until he notices something promising about some of the other contents in the snake's stomach. Without giving too much away, Nilly does indeed escape and Nesbo gives this image of a snake flying out the sewer drain and flailing around the skies above Oslo's harbor like a giant balloon quickly deflating.
Nesbo has, until recently, been an award-winning writer of detective fiction in Norway and this is his first foray into children's literature. Normally I get a hinky feeling when I hear about successful adult writers tapping the children's market because sometimes it feels like the author is trading on their name, and the publishers are simply going with a known quantity over seeking out quality. That isn't the case here as Nesbo clearly knows how to entertain the audience with clever, goofy humor. And I sincerely hope that the second book, Doctor Proctor and the Time Bathtub, manages to find its way to translation soon.
ALA question: Could this be a contender for the Mildred L. Batchelder award, or is it not serious enough?
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LibraryThing member AbigailAdams26
Originally published in Norway as Doktor Proktors prumpepulver, this amusing middle grade novel, the first in a series of adventures featuring the titular Doctor Proctor and his two young friends, draws upon the perennially popular kind of potty humor that has made titles such as The Adventures of
When Doctor Proctor's latest experiment produces two amazing powders, one that creates a loud but odorless fart, the other which produces a fart so powerful that it propels the person farting into the stratosphere, the three friends are pleased and excited. Nilly and Lisa see the first powder as a way to make friends at school, and to raise money - what kid wouldn't want to buy special fart powder?!? - while the Professor hopes that the second powder will allow him to win back his long-lost love, by making him a famous inventor. Things are rarely as simple as we'd like them to be, however, and the nefarious Trane family - obnoxious Hummer-driving Mr. Trane, and his two bully sons, Truls and Trym - soon interferes, going so far as to have Nilly and Doctor Proctor locked up in the city's most feared jail cell, the Dungeon of the Dead, while they set out to steal the farting powders. Can Nilly and the doctor escape in time to foil their plot? Or will Lisa, left behind on Cannon Street, be able to deal with the crisis on her own...?
Chosen as our January selection over in The International Children's Book Club to which I belong, in which we read a children's book from a different country each month, Doctor Proctor's Farting Powder is the debut children's book from celebrated Norwegian crime novelist Jo Nesbø. It is an entertaining tale, with plenty of funny flatulence to keep young readers amused, and a humorous self deprecation - the constant references to Norway being such a small country, the mention of the "almost famous" annual cannon salute to the Norwegian king ("who didn't rule over enough for it to amount to anything"), the never-quite-on-time or in-tune marching bands that perform on Independence Day (Norway Constitution Day) - that will please adult readers. I can't say that it is destined to become a personal favorite, but I enjoyed the reading experience, and would consider reading the sequel, Bubble in the Bathtub.
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Captain Underpants, The Story of the Little Mole Who Went in Search of Whodunit and The Gas We Pass: The Story of Farts so successful. Opening in Oslo - "the very small capital city of a very small country called Norway" - it details the coming of pint-sized Nilly to Cannon Street, where he befriends his neighbors Lisa, whose best friend has recently moved away, and Doctor Proctor, a mad-scientist type forever inventing new things. When Doctor Proctor's latest experiment produces two amazing powders, one that creates a loud but odorless fart, the other which produces a fart so powerful that it propels the person farting into the stratosphere, the three friends are pleased and excited. Nilly and Lisa see the first powder as a way to make friends at school, and to raise money - what kid wouldn't want to buy special fart powder?!? - while the Professor hopes that the second powder will allow him to win back his long-lost love, by making him a famous inventor. Things are rarely as simple as we'd like them to be, however, and the nefarious Trane family - obnoxious Hummer-driving Mr. Trane, and his two bully sons, Truls and Trym - soon interferes, going so far as to have Nilly and Doctor Proctor locked up in the city's most feared jail cell, the Dungeon of the Dead, while they set out to steal the farting powders. Can Nilly and the doctor escape in time to foil their plot? Or will Lisa, left behind on Cannon Street, be able to deal with the crisis on her own...?
Chosen as our January selection over in The International Children's Book Club to which I belong, in which we read a children's book from a different country each month, Doctor Proctor's Farting Powder is the debut children's book from celebrated Norwegian crime novelist Jo Nesbø. It is an entertaining tale, with plenty of funny flatulence to keep young readers amused, and a humorous self deprecation - the constant references to Norway being such a small country, the mention of the "almost famous" annual cannon salute to the Norwegian king ("who didn't rule over enough for it to amount to anything"), the never-quite-on-time or in-tune marching bands that perform on Independence Day (Norway Constitution Day) - that will please adult readers. I can't say that it is destined to become a personal favorite, but I enjoyed the reading experience, and would consider reading the sequel, Bubble in the Bathtub.
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LibraryThing member ChristianR
This is Jo Nesbo's, the hugely successful Norwegian author, first children's book and it is hilarious. A great suggestion for reluctant readers. Nilly has just moved into the neighborhood, where he meets Doctor Proctor, an inventor, and Lisa. Doctor Proctor's latest invention: fart powder that
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makes people fart really, really loud farts. When they tinker with the formula, they invent fartenaut powder, a powder so powerful they offer it to NASA to use as a substitute for expensive rocket ships. They begin selling the fart powder to eager kids, but the two bullies in the neighborhood insist on getting the powder for free -- so Nilly secretly substitutes the fartenaut powder and scares the willies out of the boys. Things get even crazier from there. Show Less
LibraryThing member stephxsu
I was never a fan of bathroom humor, and this one felt like 250 pages too much bathroom humor for me. I'm not sure how well this book worked as a point of discussion for my EL410 class: some days we could talk until our time ran out, and some days I found myself trying to force a dialogue when it
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would rather trail off out the window. Part of the problem is that the translation is so awkward. The combination of bathroom humor and semi-distant, semi-omnipotent narration just wasn't gelling for me. Show Less
LibraryThing member JulianGray
it is a good book but it needs more description
LibraryThing member ginger72
Another book that didn't hold my attention or my 9 year olds attention. :(
It appeared that it relied solely on the humor of the word "fart". Which was funny at first but half way thru we grew tired of the repeated use of the word. It became predictable and after a while we just didn't care what the
It appeared that it relied solely on the humor of the word "fart". Which was funny at first but half way thru we grew tired of the repeated use of the word. It became predictable and after a while we just didn't care what the
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characters were doing with the magical powder. Show Less
LibraryThing member Shannon.Allen
A very fun book with mystery, adventure (such exciting and exhilarating adventure), and all sorts of twists! This was a wonderful book to listen to and I'm positive it would be a great read with fun voices and silly effects. I'm glad to see that there are more books with Dr Proctor and his hilarity
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for my kids and me to explore! Show Less
LibraryThing member AliceaP
Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder by Jo Nesbo (you might have seen his books for adults) is the tale of a little girl and her new neighbor (a tiny boy with a big personality). They befriend a failed scientist (suitably eccentric) with many (unsuccessful and useless) inventions to his name (all more
Trigger warning: pretty intense bullying and a corrupt, abusive father.
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ridiculous than the last). However, his latest invention seems to be a real winner: a powder that when ingested causes the person to fart most spectacularly and explosively. In fact, the powder is so successful that it launches the person into the sky! Can you think of anything better for a group of children? An utterly ridiculous little book this would appeal to a middle grade reader who enjoyed the Captain Underpants or Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. [A/N: This book was originally written in Swedish before being translated into English.] 5/10Trigger warning: pretty intense bullying and a corrupt, abusive father.
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Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2007
Physical description
7.63 inches
ISBN
9781416979739