The MisAdventures of George and the Talking Butt

White 10-year-old George Smith discovers that his butt can talk in this chuckle-inducing, bathroom-humor-laden novel by Frankel, which tonally recalls the Captain Underpants series. Told through episodic vignettes, George navigates life with his newfound companion, whose speech emits so much noxious gas that it’s unbearable for other people to stand too close. George and his posterior endure madcap misadventures, trials, and tribulations, including a painful case of poison ivy and battling a whoopee cushion at school. Though George tries to explain that these mishaps aren’t his solo doing, and that his talking tush is the cause of all this misfortune, no one seems to believe him—they just wish he would stop farting. Frankel’s thinly inked b&w illustrations feature throughout, depicting a fire-breathing George following chili pepper consumption and a Halloween mishap in which George and a friend show up in the same costume. Genuinely childlike-feeling prose, which occasionally breaks the fourth wall, capably portrays George as a woebegone protagonist who, nevertheless, takes his chatty derriere—and all its ups and downs—in stride. Additional jokes labeled “Butt’s Wisecracks” conclude. Ages 8–10. (Self-published)