It All Began with a Bean Hardcover – Picture Book, October 15, 2004

It's a fun story that my girls love to giggle along with.

Excellent children's book, cute story, etc. Have shared book with several friends and all comment on the great reading and how much they have enjoyed.

A tall, albeit stinky tale!

A Parent of a Second Grader apparently asked this Harvard Expert on Flatulence to answer the Second Grader's Query: "What would happen if everyone in the world farted at once?" [This query is quite popular in the 21st Century, replacing the Theodicy polemical of: "Can an All-Powerful Divinity create a stone so huge that the Divinity would not be able to lift it?"And so Katie McKy was inspired to write this "Farting for Dummies" tome, so that any Second Grader would be able to instruct the ignorant pater familas as to how to fuel the engine of people and animals - beans, raisins, cheese, potato chips, gum, eggs, soda, and swallowing too much air. [This reviewer has found through extensive one-on-one research, coupled with the witness testimony of his wife, that when he consumes lettuce, his own noxious fumes are able to penetrate several layers of comforters, thus creating his own home-made "Disparate Housewife!"]And so another follower of "Zen and the Art of Farting" and Ben Franklyn's Doctoral Dissertation, has joined up with "Walter, the Farting Dog" to add to the growing literature (...)And just as Dan Brown assured us that everything in "The Leonardo Code" was church and art historically valid, so too Ms. McKy assures us that "It All Began with a Bean" "is the true story of what happened when everything and everyone farted at once."And just as the Illustrated Edition of "The Leonardo Code" [and the special issue of US News & World Report] demonstrated, McKy has the Tracey Hill illustrations to prove her dogmatic assertion. Like "Walter" the depictions of gaseous emissions on the cover demonstrate that flatulence is both yellow and uplifting.And thus, "It Stared with a Bean" joins the "The Semen Book" by Vivien Marx, as a Classic Comic to whet the appetite of curious adults when questioned by precocious Second Graders, and as bed-time reading for youngish grandchildren whilst the parents: Party, Party, Party.A must reference, to be placed beside "Ann of Green Gables," which will gather fond memories for generations to come. De gustibus est non disputandum, or something like that.

What in the world kind of book is this? There is absolutely no moral to the story. I'm not sure if it is to encourage farting or make kids actually like farting.All points are just wrong, like did farting cause a nuclear disaster with the green falling of the trees? I did not realize that elephants had bananas to shove up their noises. And the end is awful; just ending with the fart moving to the next town.I hope that no one has the unfortunate task of reading this book and actually reading to to someone else.HORRIBLE!!!

Some may find this topic provocative. After all, nobody writes flatulence into lesson plans but all kids do it (teachers, too!) and find it hilarious so why not talk about. Why not tell a story that teaches and amuses?I have spent the past nine years in the classroom and seven of those years teaching overseas in three countries. Farting is universal and transcends cultures. "It All Began with a Bean" would have been appreciated in the Czech Republic, France and Germany. The pictures are so animated and colorful that one wouldn't need to translate the text.The past 6 months have found me at home with my daughter. From the perspective of a parent, I find this book delightful. We read it at least once a week and it truly is a favorite. The alliteration, the tone, the playful use of words and images impress my daughter who is just starting to explore language.Teachers, parents, doctors......BUY THIS BOOK!!!!

I'm a mom and a teacher and I have read many children's books as I've raised my children. "It All Began With a Bean" is one of the most creative and whimsical books that I have ever read. The illustrations are delightful and the story is great fun. The inspiration for the story, which I read in a newspaper, was a second grader's question: "What would happen if everyone in the world farted at once?" This is a typical question for young children and Katie McKy answers it with great good humor. I look forward to more books by Ms. McKy.

Give me a break. The notion that kids need a book on farting is juvenality in the extreme. "It's a normal bodily function" said one reviewer. So is throwing up, and taking a dump. Are they next? Kids are fascinated by boogers, too. If it's a natural bodily function, then of course children should be taught to fart when and where they want to. In McKy's world, couples would fart as they took their vows of marriage. The president would fart as he took the oath of office. I would walk over and fart in your face as you slept. It's only natural.This is what happens when adults refuse to grow up. And increasingly, this is what Harvard produces.