My Big Fat Smelly Poo Diary: The Phantom Pooper by Jim Smith – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: graphic novel, poo, friends, family.
Children’s book title: My Big Fat Smelly Poo Diary: The Phantom Pooper.
Children’s authors: Jim Smith.
Genre: Children’s fiction, graphic novel.
Published by: Scholastic.
ISBN: 9780702344725.
Recommended for children aged: 7-12.
First published: Paperback July 2026.
This children’s book is ideal for: reluctant readers, especially those who have read other books in this series so they can understand the pleasure gained by returning to familiar scenes and characters.
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Our review:
Pedro, Ozzy and Olga, better known as the Poopies, return in three new stories. Their school has a problem with the toilets, so Pedro sets up another money-making scheme. His gran buys him a present, and he gets obsessed with finding a very special trading card.
As always, things don’t go quite as Pedro expects, meaning that he, Ozzy and Olga are left counting the cost. There are references to previous books which link them all together, as well as stories within stories. Some readers may never drink bubble tea again!
This book is as funny as the previous ones for those in the suggested age range and equally cringeworthy for everyone else who will still read it anyway!
Our verdict:
The three members of the Poopies are back for more adventures revolving around poo, both human and canine, as well as accompanying farts! The humour continues to work, and the continuity between the different books should encourage readers to continue their poo-based adventures! They have to deal with a case of Talky-hand-itis which strikes Pedro, causing no end of problems; bubble tea becomes their new favourite drink due to its gaseous properties, and trading-card fever hits town!
There are also some serious subjects covered, just not necessarily in too serious a way! Loneliness and the provision of a chatty bench are important parts of the final two stories, and the easy acceptance by Ozzy and Olga of Pedro’s slightly outdated gift from his gran also opens up the chance to have a discussion about things those in the suggested age range should be familiar with.
Teaching points and book club discussion ideas:
- Pedro’s diaries are all written graphically. Do you think these stories would work without any drawings? Why is this?
- Practise drawing a simple character that you could reproduce easily in a graphic novel. Use Pedro, Ozzy or Olga as examples of what would work for you.
- Using your new character, think of something you have done recently and use them in a single-page comic strip.
- Do you think having things like loneliness mentioned in a humorous book gets a message across, or are serious subjects lost amongst the silly and the gross?
Many thanks to Scholastic for the review copy.
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