Stinky
by Eleanor Davis
Toon Books
Another great comic tale for kids from Francoise Mouly’s Toon Books. This one will find children loving the grossness of Stinky; a monster living in the muckiest, smelliest swamp and keeping well away from the kids of the town who have baths, don’t like mucky mud, slimy slugs or monsters like Stinky and eat apples and cake.
But one day one of those bath taking, muck hating, apple eating kids wanders into Stinky’s swamp and makes himself a tree house there. Stinky concocts plan after plan to drive the kid out and in the process of doing so discovers that perhaps they have more in common than he thought.
(Stinky in his swamp. Delightful little touches like the frog reading under the parasol fill this book).
For children there’s an immediate parallel with Shrek here, and they’ll be on fun, familiar ground as the monster and the kid discover they have more in common than they thought.
In the end Stinky is a simple tale of finding a friend in the strangest of places and discovering that your differences can be something that brings you together. Lovely, heartwarming stuff, beautifully illustrated and packed with delightful, funny touches and a nice turn of phrase. Another hit from Toon Books in our household.
Mon, Jan 12, 2009
Propaganda, Reviews