Something Smells!

April 30, 2018
What is that smell? Elliot can’t figure it out. He literally looks high and low in his house, ruling out his father (having just shaved, “Dad smelled pretty nice”), his diapered baby sister, various pets, Grandma’s weird stew, and the garbage. But readers know the source of the odor, thanks to a remark from his mother a few pages in: “Not one more day in that costume, Elliot!” In a classic kid move, Elliot has apparently refused to take off a much-beloved skeleton outfit (“It glowed in the dark and happened to be an EXACT REPLICA OF HIS SKELETON”), and now he and it are, to put it mildly, ripe. In her picture book debut, Hellman keeps the comic tension going by alternating glimpses of Elliot’s inner detective (“Was it the cat food? Nope.”) with questions that nudge the audience (“What, what, what was that terrible smell?!”). But it’s Henry’s (Herbert’s First Halloween) lovingly observed tour of Elliot’s world that will keep readers turning the pages. The boy may still be little enough to have to toe the parental line, but until that happens, he moves with autonomy and confidence, beholden to nothing but his mission. Ages 4–8.

May 1, 2018
A mystery for young readers to sniff out.When little Elliot awakens one morning, he smells something bad but can't figure out what it is. He follows his nose around the house, sure he can find the malodorous source, but remains stumped. It's not something under his bed, nor is it a skunk or something else outside. It's neither his dad, his little sister, the baby, nor the dog--it's not even Grandma's mysterious Gefartzenschnaffer bubbling on the stovetop. Even as he searches, however, Elliot's mother scolds him for wearing his Halloween costume for yet another day, which may prompt attentive readers to guess that Elliot himself is the mysterious, eponymous something that smells. Sure enough, when Elliot's mother brings the costume to the wash, Henry illustrates a green stench wafting from it as she holds it out in front of her with just thumb and forefinger. Such details help the illustrations throughout the book match the clever, engaging text's achievement. They adopt a style reminiscent of Barbara McClintock's work, with ample crosshatching and deft use of watercolor and gouache. It's a bit odd that an elder sibling appears in pictures but is never mentioned in text (not even as a possible source of stench), but apart from this misstep, the book is a cohesive whole. The family all presents white.Smells pretty good. (Picture book. 3-7)

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July 1, 2018

PreS-Gr 2-Nothing is worse than a bad smell. One day Elliot wakes up to an awful odor and is determined to find the source. He checks everywhere, inside and out. All the people in Elliot's family, the pets, and even the trash smelled good. While he is searching, his mom tells him that it is time to get out of his amazing, super cool skeleton costume, which he did not want to take off. Oddly, the smell goes away after Elliot takes a bath. Appealing watercolor and gouache illustrations accompany this playful story. Elliot will remind many parents of their children who are too attached to an outfit. Kids will see the importance of regular hygiene in a fun way. VERDICT A winning read-aloud selection perfect for storytime and one-on-one sharing.-Nicole Detter-Smith, Homestead High School, IN

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