cover image The Smelly Book

The Smelly Book

Babette Cole. Simon & Schuster, $10.95 (30pp) ISBN 978-0-671-65670-6

Following odoriferously on the heels of The Slimy Book and The Hairy Book, Cole's book bestows upon readers a piece of light verse about some of the more fragrant objects in life: ``Smelly socks that go quite stiff . . . have the most disgusting whiff,'' and ``Our dog likes to roll around/ in smelly things left on the ground.'' Pigs, skunks and garbage cans are also at home in this book. A word or a phrase here and there``pong'' and ``do a bunk''may not be familiar to American readers, but the surrounding text and comic watercolor pictures will not leave them in the dark. A subject with an almost magnetic attraction for children, smelliness in Cole's book is downright tangy. Ages 5-10. (June)