The Day My Butt Went Psycho

Butt Trilogy #1

by Andy Griffiths

Zack Freeman is ready to tell his story—the story of a brave young boy and his crazy runaway butt. The story of a crack butt-fighting unit called the B-team, a legendary Butt Hunter's formidable daughter, and some of the ugliest and meanest butts ever to roam the face of the Earth. A story of endurance that takes Zack on an epic journey across the Great Windy Desert, through the Brown Forest, and over the Sea of Butts before descending into the heart of an explosive butt-cano to confront the biggest, ugliest, and meanest butt of them all!

It's a story you and your butt will never forget!

Genres: Childrens, Humor, Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Adventure

220 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2001

About the author

Andy Griffiths is Australia’s most popular children’s writer. He is the author of over 20 books, including nonsense verse, short stories, comic novels and plays. Over the past 15 years Andy’s books have been New York Times bestsellers, won over 50 children’s choice awards, been adapted as a television cartoon series and sold over 5 million copies worldwide.

Andy is best known as the author of the much-loved Just! series and The Day My Bum Went Psycho. In 2008 Andy became the first Australian author to win six children’s choice awards in one year for Just Shocking!, smashing his previous record of 4 awards for The Bad Book in 2005.

In 2008 Andy and his wife Jill collaborated with The Bell Shakespeare Company on the popular and critically acclaimed theatrical production Just Macbeth! which was nominated for two Helpmann Awards. In July 2010 Just Macbeth!completed a return sold-out season at the Sydney Opera House before heading to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it received rave reviews. The book of the play was shortlisted in the children’s section of the 2010 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards.

Andy has had a long-standing collaboration with the multi-talented illustrator Terry Denton. Together they have produced theJust! series, the wildly popular The Bad Book and The Very Bad Book, the ridiculous illustrated guide What Bumosaur is That?, and the Seussian-inspired early readers The Cat on the Mat is Flat and The Big Fat Cow that Goes Kapow! Their latest book is The 13-Storey Treehouse (September 2011).

http://us.macmillan.com/author/andygr...

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I was a 10 year old boy I would have given this 5 stars. It is a bit different from the books I usually read. And it was a nice diversion for a person who is trapped at home because everyone in the world has the flu and I have a little teeny baby that I want to protect.

And seriously, who would not totally love a book that has classic dialogue like this:

"You might be unreliable, rude, smelly, non-self-wiping, and completely psycho, but you're my butt and I love you."

I've thought that very thing to myself many times, but I have never said it outloud to my butt. I don't want my butt to feel underappreciated and go psycho, so let me publicly profess my thanks to my butt for the many times it has cushioned me while I sat, filled out my Gap jeans so they looked good, and just been an all around good helper to me. I love you Butt.

[Nicholas Liu · Rating 5 out of 5]

They say truth is stranger than fiction, and this book, The Day My Butt Went Psycho, certainly proves them right. The front cover kindly informs the reader that the book is "based on a true story" and the back cover proclaims that the book is "strange butt true."

The Day My Butt Went Psycho keeps faithful to "strange butt true," providing absurdity while still remaining a certain amount of realism. Compare this to Captain Underpants, a series which fails to do so and I detest. The biggest problem I find with books aimed at children is a horrible abuse of cliches, and The Day My Butt Went Psycho stays refreshingly original the whole way through.

You would think that with a title like "The Day My Butt Went Psycho," the plot of this book would be shallow and unstructured. Once again, Buttcho (as the book will be henceforth referred to as for purposes of brevity)defies expectations. The book traces a surprisingly nuanced plot as Zachary, the teenaged hero, traipses across punishing environments with a team of butt-fighters in order to reclaim his runaway butt. Foreshadowing is done well, and the plot twist was so unexpected, I forgot about it when I picked up Buttcho again recently.

World-building is done much better than your average modern supernatural book. Griffiths makes a world of butts come quite literally alive, with a staggering variety of butts, butt-flora(butt-fruit trees), and butt fauna(pooppoises, located in the sea of Butts). The world of Buttcho has butts, to be sure, but it's gritty and dark. For the people in Buttcho, this is the reality: your butt is alive, it can run away and go feral, and it is hella deadly. This may be children's literature, but Griffiths doesn't pull any punches. The very first chapter has *minor spoiler*a man's head rearranged with his butt*minor spoiler*. It's surprisingly dark, and not in a poop stain way.

Character development is also done well. Buttcho's protagonist, Zachary, develops from an inept and whining child to a resourceful butt hunter, and this development continues from beginning until the end.

Unlike too many other children's books, neither the protagonist or the supporting heroes are over powered. The butt hunters Zachary is traveling is powerful, to be sure, but when you are facing monstrosities such as The Great White Butt, on the horrendous Stenchgator- well, those powers all fall short in comparison. And when the final, shocking climax comes the Buttcalypse brought on by the butt revolution none of the butt hunter's specialized butt hunting skills matter. It's just Zach's ingenuity and courage against a very large and very angry butt.

Buttcho follows a classic hero's journey outline, and is many ways similar to Percy Jackson books. They are both comedic fantasy adventure novels, and I would recommend Buttcho to anyone who enjoys Percy Jackson and adventure stories. A healthy tolerance for bathroom humor is required, butt not required,: nothing is humorous about getting killed by a nuclear butt. (Okay, fine. Maybe a little.)

No butts about it; The Day My Butt Went Psycho remains as excellent as it was five years ago when I was a ten-year old.
Read it. You will certainly never read anything as unique for a long, long time.

[Marc · Rating 2 out of 5]

Laugh if you will, but I had high hopes for this book. I can't remember where I saw it recommended, but my son (whom I pretended I was really buying it for) tried to warn me it was just so-so. People's butts go off on their own (they sprout little arms and legs after they detach themselves) and start a revolution. The goal of which is to eventually return to their human owners but in a re-arranged fashion by swapping places with heads (yes, picture that for a second: your butt is where your face currently is and your face goes where your butt currently is... except still maybe facing forward... I couldn't be bothered to reread that part and get it straight). Got it? So you're with me and you're thinking this is the greatest plot concept since Waterworld, no? Me, too. But execution is everything when it comes to writing (and beheadings, for that matter, but let me not digress). Mildly amusing but much too long might be a good way to sum it up. Underneath all this heinie humor hides a true horror story if you pause for even a second to truly consider (much less visualize) any of the anatomical implications going on. Felt like edging toward some sort of 25 Shades of Grey with butt-fighting heroes suggestive of a BDSM group: The Smacker, The Kicker, and The Kisser.

The real disappointment: I thought the reading gods had shined down upon me when I found the sequel (Zombie Butts From Uranus) in a thrift store months ago). Surely, this was a sign? But after such a flabby first book, I shan't be trying the second one.

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It never occurred to me to rate the books I read with my son until we got stuck with a bad one. This isn't it! Every month he has to do a book report for school. He is a special needs kid, 13 years old, who hates to read and does not read at grade level. He has to read outloud to me so I can quiz him as we go along and assist with comprehension. I try to find things that will keep both of us entertained for the month to make the process less painful. This book was hysterical! The plays on words and creativity are fantastic. It's gross, don't get me wrong, but it's just what a tweener boy finds hilarious--farts, poop, farting poop... In fact, there is one part of the book that is so colonically disgusting, I started to dry heave. We were grossed out with every chapter and laughed ourselves silly. There is a particularly foul smelling character, Ned Smelly. When my son took a cursory shower, I asked if he was trying to BE Ned Smelly and he scooted right back into the bathroom. Great pick for any late elementary/early middle schooler who isn't squeamish.

[Abby Fletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book traumatised me as a child I actually believed that this could happen and it was the most terrifying thing ever. I don’t remember the story at all but I still have nightmares that one day my face will be my butt<3

[Ronda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fourth grade humor at its best. Good choice for reluctant readers--(though potentially problematic in a school library if you live in a conservative area that doesn't like you to say the word "butt" in elementary school--same issues as Captain Underpants). This book's appeal to the reluctant reader should outweigh the controversy. Great literature? No. Fun? You bet your sweet patootie.

[jamie logie · Rating 3 out of 5]

(1)i decided to read "The day my bum went psycho" by Andy Griffiths because i have read Andy Griffiths books before and i really enjoyed reading them so i decided to read The day my bum went psycho to do a reading log.
(2)the category the i have decided this book to fill out is "a book with a main character as a male". it was interesting because all through the book there are humerus events that happen in the book that made me laugh.
(3)the character that i find most interesting is Zack's Grandmother. Although she was not really a main character, i found her interesting because she was always asking "whats that noise, have they resumed firing". Because she was all ways talking about the war. The war that no one is sure that happened or when it happened but to her it seems real.
(4)a quote that i like from the book is "the Bumgards picked the Bum-catcher up off the platform and helped him to his feet. he stood there as Zack's bum attached the bum-catcher head to were his bum had been". i like this quote because this is the point in story were the bums start to rebel and this event shows what the bums want to do to humans.
(5)something that this book made me think about more deeply about is if the story came true. what would happen in reality.

[Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it because once a feral butt attached to the Kicker's face.

[✨ Aaron Jeffery ✨ · Rating 1 out of 5]

this was fun
love a good old bum joke here and this was top tier silliness, but I cannot justify giving it a higher rating because I somehow did not enjoy any bit of it

[Jackie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Who thinks up this stuff? I have this picture in my mind of a bunch of adolescent-type men sitting around a campfire rifling off butt puns left and right and rolling over with gut wrenching (or maybe I should say butt wrenching) gas cramps. Voila! The Day My Butt Went Psycho! is born.

Zach's wayward butt is at it again...he wakes just in time to see his butt leap out the window into the dark night. It is causing him trouble and he has to catch it! He spies his butt on a stage at The Midnight Butt Rally inciting butts everywhere to revolt. The butts want to rearrange the world...ahem, that is switch all of mankind's heads for their butts. Then, the butts will be making all the decisions. Soon Zach hooks up with the B-team: the kicker, the smasher, and the kisser, oh! and of course we can't forget Eleanor, The Great Butt-Hunter's daughter. They are on a mission to defeat the Great White Butt, but first they have to get past the nuclear butts, the kamikaze butts, the giant unwiped butts and the psycho butts, just to name a few. To make matters worse, there just might be a double agent,that is a butt sympathizer, among them! Zach, it turns out, has some talents he never knew he had, and what's more surprising is where he inherited them from.

There's plenty of potty, poopie butt puns in this book...reluctant readers, especially 4th grade boys will love it! I suppose every literary(?) form deserves its place. It just isn't my type of book.I really tried (I really did) to give it three stars, but I just couldn't. I hope 4th grade boys everywhere will read it and love it. More power to the butts!

[G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking forward to reading this book since this is actually my favorite Andy Griffiths' book. Aside from the weird fact that this book revolves around a butt-centric world, I enjoyed it. If you read my reviews of the other books by Andy Griffiths, you can see that I'm not really a fan of toilet or crude humor, but for some reason, it didn't really bother me in this book (which is very weird since this might as well be the weirdest book that Andy Griffiths has written). I think it's because, instead of me focusing on the weirdness that this book had (ex: butts and whatnot), I focused on the themes that it had. And this book had A LOT to it. This book had adventure, a bit of mystery and thriller, teachings about friendship and a hint of romance.

Books by Andy Griffiths may be targeted for the younger audience, but the words that he uses are for a more advanced audience. But the ideas that he has, are clearly more enjoyed by the young ones or anyone who's up for a bit of fun. I like reading his books, especially this one, because his writing style was so fun and easy. You can easily imagine the setting and the events taking place, which makes this a good book.

This is one of the books that you enjoy the first time you read it. There are actually some pretty good twists that you wouldn't normally expect in a childrens book. I certainly wasn't expecting the big twist during the first time I read it. But even though, I already know what's going to happen in the end, it didn't stop me from rereading this book for the 4th (?) time. I guess I just really enjoyed this book during the 1st, 2nd and 3rd time!

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

Intrigued by the title, I picked this up at a used book sale. After reading a couple of chapters on the bus this morning, I couldn't really handle any more. Some of the puns were pretty funny, but it got to a point where, truly, only a prepubescent boy could like it. I guess I'm just one of "those adults" :(

The idea of people's butts escaping from them and plotting world domination was bizarrely interesting, but their plan to switch all human's heads with their butts sounded like a grotesque sort of modern art. The jokes about the butts stinking when they talked and flinging brown missiles at their enemies got to be a bit much. And this is coming from a woman who normally likes poo jokes. That tells you something. Anyway, I decided I didn't want to read a whole book about it, but if you have a son who likes potty humor, send it his way.

[Ay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Australian Literature FTW.

Also: don't listen to this while driving - I had to pull up I was laughing so hard.

[w3rmo · Rating 4 out of 5]

it holds up

[Ky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was literally lying in bed minding my business and trying to fall asleep when I got gripped with this random memory that was like, “Do you remember the first book you ever took out of the library when you were a kid? Wasn’t it called Attack of the Flying Butts or something?” Anyways, the Butt Trilogy still haunts me into my 20s and I think that should tell you about the gripping, cerebral nature of these books.

[Elizabeth]

apparently it was a formative part of zach's childhood so I *had* to read it... debatable

[surge99 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would definitely recommend this book because it is weird, hilarious and action packed all at the same time and is filled to the brim with psychopathic bottoms.

My favourite part of the book was when the main character, Zack was trapped in the bumcano dangling on a harpoon hook, wedged into the great, white bum's right cheek. He then blew the bumcano up to get himself out. This is my favourite part because it shows how people can use their initiative when they need to.

The book had an unpredictable ending. It's one of those books with lots and twist and turns with a few red herrings along the way.

This is book is well worth the five stars that I gave it. I read this book over two days. I only stopped because it was time to go to sleep. It has now taken it's place as my favourite book. This was previously Scribble Boy by Philip Ridley.

[Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about a boy name Zack. His butt mysteriously disappears one day. He looks for his butt and finds that this is happening to not just him, the butts were gathering together to form an evil plot. Luckily Zack meets up with some experienced butt fighters and together they try to stop the butts' evil plans. It is not an easy journey because the Kisser (the guy who kisses butts) is secretly working for the butts. While reading this book you will have no idea what to expect. The plot is just crazy, butts trying to take over the world? There will be some moments of laughs but mostly disgust because afterall these are butts we're dealing with. This book may seem pretty childish and immature which i agree, but it's still a pretty interesting book which some may enjoy and others that will throw it down instantly from disgust.

[Nathan Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is more than you might expect.

Of course, it IS entirely about butts. I doubt there are more than two sentences in a row where the word butt is not used.

I picked up this book as a joke, it made me giggle like a little boy when I read the title. After reading a bit of it, I am very surprised.

I've read a few children's books after I was considered a grown up. They always felt like they were for children, with the most simplistic language. Griffiths does not do that.

While you might not find scrabble winning words, the way Griffiths strings together words is almost poetic. Slathering it on thick with puns and subtext. This books feels big and meaty, like the butts it contains.

For the target audience, this is fantastic.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to force myself to read this to see if I wanted it in the library, and I don't. It was so gross, not funny gross, but disgusting gross. Like when the boy climbs a giant butt and pops the zit on the butt and uses the pus to propel himself in the air. Way too heavy on the gross factor. My 10 year old niece thought it was funny but I think it is wrong. Dead wrong.

[Isaac R · Rating 1 out of 5]

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA its so wierd i saw it in the library.

[Liam Fleming · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brazen and bold account of a harrowing day’s events, hard to believe one man went through so much and is able to be here and tell this triumphant story. Would highly recommend.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to read with my daughter... some parts were tongue twisters to read aloud.

[Garrett Welsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like lord of the rings but better, the perfect monomyth.

[Izzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super duper funny! Absolutely hilarious! 🤓🤓🤓

[Joseph Bullock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still dope

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sorry but this book was HILARIOUS!!! The title is not a metaphor! Zach's butt really does go power hungry and psycho! It keeps detaching and having midnight trouble-making adventures but this time it's gone too far! It wants to have all butts trade places with heads so they can rule the world. They use everything in their power (I don't have to say how they knock people out, do I?) to achieve this world domination and it's gross! Little boys and gross girls everywhere are going to love this series! Oh yes, I said series. Don't miss the follow up-"Zombie Butts from Uranus" and "Butt Wars: The Final Conflict"

[Tom Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our protagonists bum is missing, and its involved in a bum revolution. This was a very fun book to read, not only because the story was a very out-there concept. The story has big characters and events which would keep the reader entertained throughout. The humor and text aims this book squarely at the KS2 demographic and while some students will pick it up voluntarily I think it would be great for getting stubborn readers to see books as avenues of entertainment rather than chores!

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really an excuse to read/say "butt" as many times as possible. Entertaining adventure story. Enough twists and turns to be interesting, but not too scary. A great book for a boy looking for something beyond "Diary of a wimpy kid". I don't plan to read more in the series myself. I think I've read "butt" enough for this lifetime.

[Judy Wollin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zack’s bum has gone missing. It’s really hard to walk, run and do lots of things without your bum. Zack must find his bum.

Team B are Bum-Hunters. Zack must find a way of going with them to find his bum. Events take a deadly turn.

Will Zack find his bum? Will Team B survive?

Many, many kids will enjoy the bum humour and the mystery.

Recommended for 8+