You remember childhood books with stories in words and a few illustrations here or there. Some were stories of real life, including the real and imaginative life of children. Poopballs Over the Shanty And Other Bedtime Stories is a throwback to reading stories of an earlier time.  Suitable for girls and boys 5 to 9, its a book that encourages children to engage with reading and language.  

Poopballs Over The Shanty was a real game played by two boys growing up in the village of Caledon, Ontario during WWII. Dad was away, a soldier in Europe. Rubber balls weren't available:  rubber had been commandeered for truck tires overseas. Two young boys wanting a winter game of catch found other round objects suitable for throwing – frozen horse poop.  They had a small collapsed barn roof, a shanty, to throw the poop over. So, the game became poopballs over the shanty. When an older boy bullied the two younger boys they invited him to play their game. He got his comeuppance. 

The hardcover book is an old-fashioned story book beautifully illustrated by Vancouver's Rae Maté. The stories are Poopballs Over the Shanty, Jeannie, Virginie's Woods, Soap and Water and Hot Fat Spit, and Brian's Bananas and  Dad Comes Home. 

The stories have been read to school children across Canada and are suitable for children aged 5 to 9.