Stinky

Stinky is one of the more popular books with my four-year-old right now. It's premise is pretty simple. Stinky is a small monster who lives on the outskirts of the city. He loves his spot because it is full of lots of smelly things, like his pet toad Wartbelly, an onion patch, and a swamp. He is very wary of people, especially children, as they enjoy things he hates, like baths, apples, and cake. One day, however, his world gets rocked when a boy named Nick builds a treehouse on his turf.

 

Stinky goes on the offensive, drawing up plans to drive Nick away. All of them backfire, hilariously, and Stinky and Nick find that they are kindred spirits and become friends. The end.

Like I wrote earlier, this book is pretty simple and the plot somewhat familiar, but it is also extremely well executed. The dialogue and sound effects make for a fun read-aloud. The artwork is simple and clean, with strong primary coloring. The characters are cute, in a big head style of cartooning, and the storytelling is clear and direct. And best of all for me, there are some elegant details that help populate this world with characters and heart, much in the same way Walt Kelly's classic Pogo strips did. You can see a tiny little toad and mouse fore-grounded in the opening page of chapter 2 above, and I loved seeing all the denizens of the forest in this story, including possums, mice, alligators, slugs, and bats.  Also, how can you not love a comic that features a hole with a wooden arrow labeled "Bottomless Pit?"

This book is an early work by Eleanor Davis, who has racked up quite a few accolades since, including the Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award. She has created a number of books, including ones for adults (How to Be Happy and Why Art?) and adolescents (The Secret Science Alliance). You, a Bike, & A Road was one of my favorite books of 2017, and it won an Ignatz Award for Outstanding Anthology or Collection. Her latest book The Hard Tomorrow came out last year, and I expect it to do well come comics award season.

Stinky was named a 2009 Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book, and it has been very well reviewed. In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews wrote, "The winning story carries itself on spunk and a controlled vocabulary that combines judiciously chosen sight words (onion, gross) with easily sounded-out words (slimy slugs!) that will have emerging readers in stitches." Bill Sannwald added, "The fun storyline, lush visuals, and appropriate vocabulary work together to make the book an absolute pleasure worthy of a place in any collection of short-chapter books."

Stinky was published by TOON Books, and they offer a preview and more here.