3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Sigfried’s Smelly Socks!, written and illustrated by Len Foley, is a hilarious children book. In this, a little boy explores, why his book smells so bad. Sigfried presumes many reasons for the foul smell. He points towards the old stains on the pages. Could it be a rotten banana? Or it could be his dog’s pee, maybe his brother’s nose wiping, or his little sister’s wiping her behind. These reasons, though funny, deem natural and authentic to Sigfried! Also, he is bothered about the disgusting smell of his unwashed socks piled beneath his bed.
This humorous book contains only 26 pages. Each page has one or more colorful illustrations and narratives. The big and clear font, written in child handwriting style, certainly matches with the theme. Kids may relate the asymmetrical writing and funny sketches to their own genre. The plot of Sigfried’s Smelly Socks! is authentic, as children often mess up things, dirty their dress, belongings, and surroundings.
The illustrations on the front cover and the pages are colorful, funny, and captivating. The animated sketches of the characters and the true images like potato, ketchup stain, and baked beans are awesome. The plot is simple and childish; hence definitely entice children of age 3-7 years. I believe kids would like to read this kind of a book repeatedly, as it provides vibrant illustrations, helping them understand the meaning easily. I liked Len Foley’s writing style. He has left a few sketches that mark the bad smelling objects on the page, asking what it could be. This will certainly tickle the child’s imagination. The use of rhyming words here and there, make the text likable for children. The book has a funny and adorable ending that made me laugh out loud.
The author has exercised the extreme imaginations to research the terrible smell of the book. The hilarious pages certainly make children laugh a lot. However, there can be a few readers who may not like the gross topic and the filthy images.
I felt the book would have been more useful if there is guidance for kids to keep their things clean and tidy. The high-sounding words like kraut, splotch, sow lard, blubber lumps, and sudsy used in the text might make the grasping hard for kids. The employment of simple words would have made the grasping easier.
Parents of young children can have a fun time reading this with their kids. They can advise their young ones to keep their belongings clean and tidy through this storybook. These images can be helpful for children to differentiate between various colors. Parents and school teachers can instruct children sketch by seeing the drawings on the pages.
There is no grammar error in the text. My only worry about this book is that it appears incomplete for not having a proper storyline. If the author had worked more towards perfection, this book would have been better. In view of these negative points, I wish to rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I recommend this for all kids aged 3 to 7 years. Only those who can’t stand gross and filthy topic, stay away!
******
Sigfried’s Smelly Socks!
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like ShailaSheshadri's review? Post a comment saying so!
cheers!
