¡Algo apesta!

by Blake Liliane Hellman, Steven Henry (Ilustrator)

Una mañana, muy temprano, el más terrible de los olores despertó a Elliot.
¿Era la basura? No...
¿El perro? No...
¿Papá?
¿Su hermana?
¿El bebé?
¿El famoso gefartzenschnaffel de la abuela?
!No, no, no y no!

Genres: Picture Books, Humor, Family, Childrens, Storytime, Mystery, Fiction

48 pages, Hardcover

First published July 31, 2018

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

You don't often see after holiday picture books, but when you see one done the right way, you remember it! (At least I do.) This is clever without being over the top; has illustrations that are the right mix of charming without being cutesy (I really have to give a shout-out to the great pen, ink, and watercolor/gouache illustrations!); and has just the right blend of comedy tucked inside of the mystery. Grownups will get this right away, but kids will love puzzling it all out.

P.S. How long do you think he will keep his groovy sea monster pajamas on before things take a turn for the sinister and strange and odoriferous?

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something smells terrible. Elliot searches out the terrible smell. Is it one of his pets? Is it his sister? Is it Dad? No, no and no! It is not until Elliot's mother tells him to take a bath that readers figure out what the smell could be through the detailed illustrations. This book is a funny introduction to hygiene.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This title laid on my desk longer than it should have and I thought oh I probably won’t like it. Boy was I wrong. A great storyline, something smells and Elliott is determined to find the source. Wearing his most beloved pjs that he just will not take off, Elliott searches everywhere. Eventually the smell disappears, but I am not saying how it vanishes. Good contemporary home life depicted on the illustrations, including Dad shaving and later scrolling on his phone.
This was a good one, and um never judge a book by its cover😊

[Kaitlyn Egenes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elliot woke up smelling something bad. He spent all day trying to figure out where the smell was coming from. In the end he finally realized that the smell was coming from him. This was because he had been wearing the same outfit for several days.

This is a good book to teach my students about personal hygiene. I think it is important to teach this in school because some kids might not be taught this at home.

[Tracy Schillemore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humorous and I think many parents will identify about the struggle with children and their favourite clothes/costumes.

[Tara DuBose-Schmitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was introduced to the word gefartzenschnaffer, which though it contains the word fart, is not the source of the smell. Nor is it a real German word.

[Annese · Rating 4 out of 5]

This reminds me of the book "Harriet Gets Carried Away" by Jessica Sima. I feel like Elliot and Harriet would be best friends, but Harriet would NOT play around with the being funky part.

[Ashley Adkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief text that really leaves a lot to pull from the detailed illustrations. Once you read through the twist in the story you can go back and find fun clues in the pictures. My 9 year old son really loved the story and the illustration of the house from the outside, showing different things going on inside each room of the house. Fun book for kids to read and, likely, relate to. The young boy in the story is adorable and innocent which adds a humorous and believable element to the story.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a boy who finds a disturbing smell sometime after Halloween. He searches all through his house while wearing his favorite costume (that he has been wearing for quite some time), and is forced to take a bath by his mother. Finally, the smell goes away. This book might be a nice way to talk about baths and smells with young children.

[McKenzie Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

For more reviews, check out my blog: Craft-Cycle

Humorous story about a mysterious odor plaguing a little boy. A very funny and entertaining book. I enjoyed the detailed illustrations and the hilarious plot.

Very engaging as the reader follows Elliot on his journey to figure out what it is that smells so bad.

[Tricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something smells! Is it the cat food? Is it the baby? Is it dad? NO! What could it be?!

Follow Elliot as he scours his house for the stinky smell, and be delighted when you figure out the cause!

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not really a fan of this one. The premise is a little buy wakes up and smells something unpleasant. He hunts throughout the house for the cause, but never finds it. He puts on clean PJ's after his bath and seems to forget about the smell. Readers who pay attention will notice that twice his mother tells him to change out of his costume, and there is old Halloween candy in the trash. There is also text that says 'something swirled right down the drain. The terrible smell was gone', and there are a few illustrations of the mother walking off with the costume and a green wavy line coming off it, implying it has a bad smell.
So readers piece together that the boy has been in his costume for too long, the smell is both the boy and the costume. But he can smell it before anyone else can? And his parents allow him to get to the point where he can smell himself before making him take a bath??
This book seems to tell children it is okay to wear the same clothing and not bath until they smell. And since the boy never learns why the smell goes away, he just forgets, there is no lesson learned. The fact that he loves his new PJs so much he never wants to take them off even shows it will happen again. not cool.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delicately written, this generous lesson in personal hygiene makes its point without shaming the stinky little hero.

Both the author (Blake Liliane Hellman) and the illustrator (Steven Henry) show remarkable restraint... and sensitivity. This is no cartoonish book with over-the-top words and pix.

Here everything seems normal-ish, except for that mysterious bad smell that Elliot -- the hero of this tale -- tries so hard to identify.

FIVE STARS and also HIGHEST PRAISE. At least one somebody had to write a book about the value of bathing. Maybe not the most tactful present to give another person, but this is a fine preventative book to bring home. My recommendation?

Read it when everybody within sniffing distance is having a good-smelling day.

[Abbi Sammons · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's funny, and I believe that a lot of parents can relate to the difficulties they have with their kids' favorite outfits or costumes. I like this book because parents probably have the struggle of kids not wanting to change or have a bath/shower because they don't want to change. I will have this book in my classroom because I want kids to know that they need to change their clothes and bathe otherwise they will smell. They will be able to change back into it when it is cleaned and washed, and they are clean and washed.

[Terresa Wellborn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A funny picture book about a boy wearing a very stale and stinky Halloween skeleton costume. Humor ensues as he wanders his house, looking for the origin of the stink. He never discovers it, but we do.

The illustrations take the tale to another level, especially the cutaway of his home, the pot of Gefartzenschnaffel (is that even a thing?), and his mom carrying his stinky costume down to the basement laundry room.

Themes: bath time, smells, family, mystery, humor
Ages: preK-1st grade
Pub year: 2018

[Alicia Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book illustrates the classic struggle of finding a piece of clothing you never want to take off--it's going to start to smell. This concept is not explicitly explained, so readers and caregivers will have an interesting time discussing that afterwards.

For: young readers who have an outfit they never take off; readers needing a laugh.

Possible red flags: Some readers may find the answer to what smells to be too shocking or gross.

[Ana Lanuwe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Divertídisimooo, quizás un poco más para los papás que nos sentimos identificados con la lucha diaria para que los pequeños se metan a la ducha (una vez lo logramos la lucha es sacarlos) y para los niños que se sienten identificados con esa ropa, disfraces, pijamas que aman que se vuelven sus amuletos y que les despiertan la puerta de la imaginación a mil juegos. Algo apesta es la frase que ahora uso cuando mi hijo insiste en que no necesita bañarse!

[Alyssa Gudenburr · Rating 3 out of 5]

A funny book about a boy who discovers something smells. The reader quickly figures out it is him due to wearing his costume for too many days in a row. However, the boy never quite figures out where the smell comes from as it washes down the drain after his bath. This would be a great book to introduce good hygiene habits to elementary children.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a hoot! The kid who doesn't know that HE is the one who stinks because he wears his outfits (currently a skeleton clothing set) which will then become a dinosaur clothing set after he takes a bath. He wants to point he finger at his baby sibling's diaper or what's cooking on the stove.

I adored this. A mystery that's easily solved.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a funky smell in Elliot's house when he wakes up one morning. He makes it his mission to figure out what the smell is. However no matter where he looks he cannot figure it out. Eventually his mother tells him he must take off the pajamas he's been wearing for a long long time and take a bath. Once he's in new clean pajamas Elliot realizes that he doesn't smell the smell anymore.

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ohhhh, this is a battle I'm expecting from my little one. She's still too young for dress-up, but I'm betting she'll be an enthusiastic imaginer who will be too excited about being an ACTUAL penguin to want to take the costume off.

[Olivia Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

My two year old son LOVES this book, and so do I. It's a funny little story, and the character art is cute. Who knows, maybe my sweet toddler relates to Elliot, always trying to find the source of the stinky smell.

[Gabbie Kral]

This story is how this little boy smells something funny and wants to find out what it is and finds out that its the cloths he's in. I would have this in the class because it can discuss hygiene as well as different experiences for the students.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something smells terrible but what is it?? Elliot must find out! Super cute illustrations.

[Tracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young child tries to find the source of a persistent, bad smell.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect! Its clever and cute and the illustrations are great.

[Marina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable. Would be a fun read after Halloween for those kids obsessed with their costumes.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love it! Totally appropriate for pre-teens as well

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the illustrations and simple story.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elliot wakes up one morning and smells something awful. After searching around the entire house, he still can't figure out what is creating the terrible stink.