Well. Finally…

The United Nations has just this past summer adopted a resolution that officially recognizes November 19^th as World Toilet Day for evermore.  

Regardless of the ridiculous sounding name, it’s a serious problem for about 2.5 billion people – the other half of the clean water issue. Since 2001, the World Toilet Organization has worked at tackling taboos, to increase awareness and deliver sustainable sanitation.  

And, this year the United Nations has jumped on board supporting international and civil organizations that strive to ensure safe, clean toilets.

My recommendation for today is Toilet: how it works by David Macaulay.

This is a levelled reader (level 4) from the My Readers series published by Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group.

In about 30 pages you learn what a toilet is used for (dog’s drinking bowl, goldfish disposal), the basics about body waste, the mechanics of how it works, where the waste goes after flushing (sewers, septic tanks, treatment plants) and the final product, clean water returned to the river system.

The writing is clear, succinct and a bit humorous.  The illustrations are classic Macaulay with subdued colours and detailed pictures on every page.  A glossary, index and reading list are included.

A good introduction for the topic.

Check out the following blogs for additional books to tie into World Toilet Day.

Toilets of the World and Poop Happened