Fartiste

Across the world there are many an artiste -

But none so outrageous as Joe, the Fartiste.

The Fartiste doesn't sing, he doesn't dance, and he doesn't act. But that doesn't stop him from taking the stage at Paris's famed Moulin Rouge, where he performs his much-loved act for celebrities and royalty with the funniest talent of all - Joe is the man who has perfected the art of the fart.

Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer bring new wind to their mostly true story about "the man who made his pants dance," which is perfectly matched with Boris Kulikov's explosive art.

Across the world there are many an artise-

But none so outrageous as JOE, the Fartiste.

The Fartiste doesn't sing, he doesn't dance, and he doesn't act. But that doesn't stop him from taking the stage at Paris's famed Moulin Rouge, where he performs his much- loved act for celebrities and royalty with the funniest talent of all- Joe is the man who has perfected the art of the fart.

Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer bring new wind to their mostly true story about "the man who made his pants dance," which is perfectly matched with Boris Kulikov's explosive art.

Publishers Weekly

True story: a boy discovers he has an unusual command over the muscles in his intestines. With lots of practice and ambition, Joseph Pujol becomes the Fartiste, the fin-de-siècle sensation of the legendary Moulin Rouge. "A bit of Beethoven, a song by Mozart," write Krull (the Lives of... series) and Brewer (You Must Be Joking!) in their rhyming quatrains, "A Debussy ditty-all through a fart." (Respectful of their audience's curiosity, the authors also note, "his flatulent actions completely lacked smell.") Clearly tickled by the subject matter, Kulikov (The Castle on Hester Street) employs a brassy palette and broad, earthy expressions reminiscent of vintage theatrical posters; he captures both Pujol's consummate showmanship and the joie de vivre of the gas-lit (no pun intended) bohemian world that embraced him. As for the famous flatulence, even the politest company will find its visual interpretation apropos: Kulikov draws each breaking of wind as a cross between a Botticelli-esque cloud and a comic-strip text balloon. The don't-miss afterword discloses that Pujol's actual stage name was Le Petomane (the Fartomaniac) and that his fans included-mais oui!-Sigmund Freud. Ages 4-8. (June)

Kathleen Krull is the author of A Woman for President: The Story of Victoria Woodhull, illustrated by Jane Dyer, and Lives of Extraordinary Women: Rulers, Rebels (and What the Neighbors Thought), illustrated by Kathryn Hewitt, as well as a number of other acclaimed biographies for young readers. She lives in San Diego, California.

Boris Kulikov, a former set and costume designer in St. Petersburg, Russia, was chosen as a Flying Start by Publishers Weekly. He has also illustrated Morris the Artist by Lore Segal, The Perfect Friend by Yelena Romanova, and Carnival of Animals by John Lithgow. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.