The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew it Was None of His Business: 30th anniversary edition (CBH Children / Picture Books)

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Satisfied at last, the little mole disappeared happily into his hole underground.” (And presumably continued on with his mole doings uninterrupted.) OTHER MOLES IN CHILDREN’S STORIES Translated to English by David Bennet Books, Werner Holzwarth’s text is so much fun. The conversation between Mole and the animals always ends with “Me? No, how could I? I do it like this?”. The description thereafter and Mole’s impression are very funny. My sister recommended this to me, along with The Gruffalo and a few others, and she always has great recommendations. Aside from the fact - yes, fact - that little kids are fascinated by their own bodily functions, in its own way this book teaches you how to recognise the excrement of different animals and birds. Don't you just love it?!

Originally published in German as Vom kleinen Maulwurf, der wissen wollte, wer ihm auf den Kopf gemacht hat (literally, "Of the Little Mole Who Wanted to Know Who Did It On His Head"), and translated into English as The Story of the Little Mole Who Went in Search of Whodunit, this hilarious tale of scatological hi-jinks has now been made into a pop-up - or rather, a "plop-up" - edition, and released under this slightly different title, The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew It Was None of His Business. This book convulsed a small gaggle of my (adult) co-workers, who gathered around for an impromptu story-hour, and left still giggling helplessly. What can I say...? Apparently Werner Holzwarth knows how to communicate with our inner six-year-olds. And the book we got was a sound addition so not only did you get to read about the animals having a poo, you also got to press a button which then made the sound of the animal pooing.... Yay. The little mole will question every animal in the vicinity until he finds the culprit. He will examine the turds to find a match for the one on his head. BIG STRUGGLEAlthough The Little Mole Who Knew It Was None of His Business is all about pooh, this avoids being a typical ‘gross out’ story because of an overriding gentility in the language. The onomatopoeia has retained a foreignness about it — perhaps retained partly from the original German? — and because this is a picture book rather than a chapter book (as many gross-out books are), the language can be a little more sophisticated due to the fact that adults are likely to be reading this aloud to their children. The goat poo, for instance, is compared to ‘toffee’, which the little mole finds ‘almost appealing’. STORY STRUCTURE OF THE LITTLE MOLE WHO KNEW IT WAS NONE OF HIS BUSINESS SHORTCOMING OF THE LITTLE MOLE WHO KNEW IT WAS NONE OF HIS BUSINESS PSYCHOLOGICAL NEED Anyway, those are minor issues of contention in the debate over this book's quality. Overall it is an interesting read with a bittersweet chocolate twist at the end. The layout and drawing style of the book reminded me very much of the tales from acorn wood collection and I think that's what caught Minnie's eye initially as she likes the mole in those stories. The mole needed help to find out who had done a poo on his head. Each creature has a different diet and therefore their poo is different. Owl pellets however come out from the other end. They are in fact,all the parts of creatures such as voles, shrews and mice that an owl cannot digest, assembled into a handy pellet, which the owl regurgitates. Adapted for stage in The Netherlands and Germany in 2012, this story does have all the elements of an entertaining read. Technically, a children’s picture book, I think the comedic and educational factor make it fun for all ages. It is 31 years old now and a classic.

The only shit the mole has an aversion to is pig shit. Who would have guessed that pig crap is the only kind of animal shit that stinks? As someone who spent a lot of time on farms, I call bullshit on this one. Also, how can this mole complain about the smell of pig shit when it is likely eclipsed by the steaming heap of shit on his head? Owls consume prey such as mice, voles and smaller birds whole. When the prey reaches the first stomach, digestive juices start to break down the soft tissues. After this, the partially digested remains enter a second stomach called the gizzard. Here, the indigestible parts are compacted into a sausage-shaped pellet, which hours later, is pushed up and out of the beak!It's a very funny and interactive book and clearly would delight young readers. I mean who doesn't like reading about poo? Key scientific vocabulary: digestive system, nutrition​, nutrients, mouth, teeth​, canines, incisor, molar, pre-molar, saliva, tongue​, rip, tear, chew, grind, cut, oesophagus (gullet), stomach, small intestine, large intestine​, rectum, anus The rabbit's poop sounds like Snoop Dogg's rendition of a semi automatic weapon, giving a whole new meaning to the phrase "rat-a-tat tat dat ass."

What appears to be the hairdo of a now-famous politician, on the head of this little Mole, is what attracted me to this story, first published in Germany in 1989. Of course, it isn’t hair, as the original German title, “About the little Mole that wanted to know who ‘did’ (poo-poo) on his head” attests.The mole, being short-sighted, can't see who did it, so he asks all the animals around, but they show him how they do it and he can see that their poo is quite different (and all the while there's this big turd still on his head). Whoever said ‘it’s impossible to rub a mole the wrong way’ had never met this little mole, who gets very salty and vengeful. Mind you, can’t say I’d be happy if someone pooped on my head, either. Chicago Tribune, Illinois, April 26, 1935 There is no single great big struggle in this story, in which the mole must endure encounters with a number of animals. But the encounters do escalate — each pooh is worse than the last one, with the cow pancake being the worst of the lot. He does get spattered in poo, which can be likened to wounds in a big struggle. ANAGNORISIS OF THE LITTLE MOLE WHO KNEW IT WAS NONE OF HIS BUSINESS PSYCHOLOGICAL EPIPHANY The illustrations by Wolf Erlbruch are classic and were deemed such by The Netherlands in 2012. The colourful pencil drawings are delightful, filling each panel and complementing the font used. The posturing of Mole and expressions of the other animal characters are hilarious. The movement and creation of each “business” is accurate without being distasteful.

Okay so maybe you have to read it to get the appeal, but it truly is a funny and delightful book, that says a lot without actually saying anything. Even the title has a double-meaning: "business" referring to going to the toilet, meaning that the mole knew he hadn't gone to the toilet on his own head. But it also refers to the expression, mind your own business. Poor Mr Mole pops his head out of his hole one day, only to get a nasty surprise landing on his head. He then sets out to find the culprit, asking several different animals on the way if it was them who pooed on his head. A terrible catastrophe befell the little mole one bright, sunny morning. It looked a little like a sausage, and the worst thing is that it landed right on his head”. Mole was indignant, but he was so short-sighted that he couldn’t see anyone around. He sets off on a journey to confront the offender and on the way accuses many different animals. So obviously this book is the best book in the world. Minnie thinks it's hilariously funny and loves pushing the buttons and then covering her face and snorting with laughter as the sound of the pooing animal is made.

Poo: A Natural History of the Unmentionable

The Story of the Little Mole who knew it was None of his Business is a very popular picture book originally published in German. You can tell if a story is popular when you see the plush toy version of the hero! Owl pellets are a brilliant way to find out about what owls eat. It is an easy and simple investigation to do with children. You can obtain owl pellets through some local wildlife trusts from owl sanctuaries. The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew it was None of His Business by Werner Holzwarth follows the quest of a mole as he tries to find out who did their business on his head. This is a difficult mission for a short-sighted mole! As he asks his neighbours, mole learns that poo comes in many shapes and sizes. He asks a horse, hare, cow and pig if the business on top of his head was their business - it wasn't. Eventually the experts in this business, the flies, explain that it was the work of the dog. Mole gets his revenge and carries on with his day. ​This funny tale creates a great setting through which children can explore: The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew It Was None of His Business or The Story of the Little Mole Who Went in Search of Whodunit (German, " Vom kleinen Maulwurf, der wissen wollte, wer ihm auf den Kopf gemacht hat", literally " About the little mole, that wanted to know, who 'did' [defecate] on his head") is a children's book by German children's authors Werner Holzwarth and Wolf Erlbruch. The book was first published by Peter Hammer Verlag in 1989; it was soon translated and became an international success.