Many writers take great pains to retreat from their juvenilia. I, on the other hand embrace mine, though what I’m talking about is not my own childhood musings. Instead, it’s my very juvenile writing for kids, the Gross Facts to Blow Your Mind series published in 1993 by Price Stern Sloan. Though these four books are long out of print, you might still find a used copy kicking around. Co-authored by Judith Freeman Clark with illustrations by Skip Morrow, these books featured farts, snot, poop, body odor, everything a nine-year-old boy finds amusing.

Here’s a sample entry that shows my deep thinking about both history and science.

A writer’s life is filled with humbling experiences. Perhaps none is more humbling than having to explain to a Third Grade boy enthralled by your book that “Well, actually, no, I didn’t draw the pictures. I wrote the words.”

“Oh,” he said. Then silence. Crushing silence.