Adults often express concern about the increasing production of books with scatological humour despite the evidence of the popularity of such literature with children. This article explores a range of recently published picture books where the anthropomorphic dog is subject to children’s laughter. Bakhtin’s theory of the carnivalesque is identified as a useful construct to use in order to understand the nature of this humour and indeed, the theory can provide a rationale for the possible use of scatology in early childhood settings. The dialogic nature of the picture book (image versus narrative) provides a useful structure to exploit carnivalesque humour. However, the paper recognises that providing a carnivalesque space in the classroom is a problematic business that challenges how adults perceive both the nature of children’s literature and the adult as the agent of control within the early childhood centre.