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I Smell…

I Smell by Patrick George is one of five books in a series about the five senses.  All books in this series have clever and amusing illustrations. The bold color and bold designs, with a twist, are engaging and entertaining. The series would be appropriate for toddler through beginning readers (1st grade) or for struggling readers.
Each picture requires a second look.

On one page we see a skunk.  The words on that page are [I smell] “…awful. Keep away!”  The skunk’s tail forms another exclamation point. The black tip of a dog’s nose becomes a black bag belonging to a thief.  One draw back to this book is the page referring to poo. Stinky poo to be exact… a swirled pile with flies around it.  While many kids will not be able to contain their laughter, and thus be hard to bring back to the story after this type of unexpected surprise; some children will be uncomfortable with the image. The ending may pose a disruption to a class read aloud as well: “My favorite smell is… you.”  Mom and baby are pictured.  Kinder and 1st graders may take that statement to the opposite extreme with various vocal exclamations of “Yuck” and “You???”  Those two items may make this a difficult class read aloud or depending on how it’s handled, a very lively read aloud.