ROCHESTER — As a gastroenterologist, Dr. Xiao Jing “Iris” Wang has conversations with her patients about poop, a topic usually considered impolite, uncomfortable or embarrassing.
“We always end up talking about their constipation, their pelvic floor dysfunction,” said Wang, associate program director of Mayo Clinic’s gastroenterology and hepatology fellowship. “And they would just look at me and say, ‘How come nobody’s ever told me this before? How come nobody’s ever taught me that this is not the right way to poop?'”
She started noticing this trend in 2019, during her GI fellowship at Mayo Clinic. Then, when she was at home, Wang spent lots of time reading picture books with her toddler.
“Children’s book literature has become so amazingly educational,” Wang said. “We were reading these children’s books about human bodies with lift-the-flap concepts and general chemistry for babies.”
That’s when inspiration struck.
“I was like, ‘I could do this,'” Wang said. “‘I should do this for my patients, I can write this rhyming book that teaches children how to poop.'”
Wang started writing and creating rough illustrations in 2020. Now, her 24-page board book
is on the shelves. It’s Wang’s first book, illustrated by Rocio Ledesma and published through Mayo Clinic Press Kids.
The story follows a ghost named Boo, who’s dealing with constipation. In one illustration, the reader can look through Boo’s semi-transparent body to see his digestive tract. Boo goes to his ghost parents for help, and their first suggestion is movement: “Get outside and kick a ball. Moving will speed your colon wall!”
Maya Giron / Post Bulletin
Making the main character a ghost named Boo “was just something that made sense,” Wang said, to create a rhyme with “poo.”
“And the other side of it was I really didn’t want it to be a human kid because I wanted it to be cuter, a little bit more accessible to kids,” Wang said. “I didn’t want to make it seem like a doctor telling the patient what to do; I want it to be a little bit more whimsical, a little bit more fun.”
The goal, Wang said, is to teach kids about their GI tract and normalize conversations about issues like constipation. While about one in five adults deal with constipation, only 37% discuss it with their doctor, Wang said.
“When we don’t have the language to describe our bowel movements, when we don’t know what ‘normal’ is, we can really miss some early signs of more serious diseases like inflammatory bowel disease,” Wang said. “These are issues of your body, to give you that bodily autonomy, to give you the words to understand your body, take ownership of your own health and then recognize when something is not going right.”
As a first-time author, Wang said the process of pitching her book — and dealing with rejections — was a humbling experience.
“I have learned so much about publishing, and I have so much respect for authors who are able to get their work and their vision out there,” Wang said.
Will Wang write another children’s book? She said she has a sequel partially written.
“I think I’ll talk to people and see if they’re interested in having Boo basically explore his microbiome and understand why our tummies sometimes hurt after we get sick,” Wang said. “But we’ll see how this first one goes.”
In the meantime, Wang and her son continue to make their own rhyming stories together for fun.
Maya Giron / Post Bulletin
Maya Giron / Post Bulletin
Maya Giron / Post Bulletin
