Review by a9436 -- Sigfried’s Smelly Socks!

[a9436]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Sigfried’s Smelly Socks!" by Len Foley.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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Sigfried’s Smelly Socks! by Len Foley opens with a rather unfortunate declaration that the book stinks, but this is meant in the sense of its topic being smelly, rather than being a poor piece of writing! The text continues by suggesting that a number of unsanitary items, such as a rotten banana, an old piece of chewing gum, and a dog’s urine, all of which have made their way onto the pages, might be responsible for the smell. However, just under half of the way through the book, the culprit is revealed to be a pile of unwashed socks which the title character has left to fester under their bed.

Whilst the following pages comprise colourful descriptions of the socks, the problem of their fumes is not immediately solved. Rather, yet more household items, from mustard to blubber, this time left by the protagonist’s uncle, appear in all of their glory. Sigfried eventually decides that he will conditionally launder the socks, but in a rather unconventional location: the toilet bowl.

I selected this book to review because I work in the field of education, and therefore have an interest in children’s literature and the educational potential of pre-schoolers’ books. Based upon the title, I assumed that Sigfried’s Smelly Socks! would encourage young children to help the adults around them with keeping things clean and tidy, and explain why forgetting about, or hiding, dirty laundry can have an unpleasant consequence. Unfortunately, Foley did not include such learning and teaching opportunities, as although Sigfried does consider taking responsibility for his own washing as opposed to asking a parent, it is explicitly stated that the socks are not much of a problem in comparison to the other mentioned smells. I was uncomfortable with the suggestion of using the toilet too, regardless of the assumed humorous intentions.

This was not the only negative aspect that I identified; the concepts of wiping one’s nose or bottom on, as well as deliberately dropping food onto, books, are not discouraged enough for my liking. Children who are capable of comprehending the majority of the text should, on average, be old enough to have already learned that this behaviour is not acceptable, but on a personal level, I would prefer not to take the risk that a cheeky young reader might pick up some naughty ideas! The colourful cartoons and rhyming rhythm of the text are likely to be appealing to pre-schoolers, but the latter is not consistent throughout the book, and the illustrations are interspersed with photographs which include some, in my opinion, rather distasteful images of scraps of food.

I did not find any spelling errors, and the grammatical error of starting sentences with usually-avoided conjunctions can be forgiven, as this tactic is primarily used to maintain the text's rhythm. However, I do question some of the vocabulary choices for two reasons. Firstly, some of the rhymes, of awful and waffle, for example, are forced, and secondly, some of the words may not be ones with which younger pre-school-aged children are familiar. Accompanying adults can, of course, explain the meanings in accordance with the child in question’s ability, but frequently doing so would likely hinder any potential enjoyment of the book by interrupting the story.

Overall, I rate this book 1 out of 4 stars, for its encouragement of unsanitary activities, and the lack of a strong educational message. I would be unlikely to recommend it to teachers, and suggest that those who would most like the book would be pre-school-aged children who enjoy toilet humour and whose parents are dedicated to teaching cleanliness via non-literary methods.

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Sigfried’s Smelly Socks!
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[joycechitwa]

Isn't it a pity that such a powerful opportunity to portray a message of cleanliness just got watered down by making it one big joke? I agree with your review, I would be a little cautious recommending this book to children, even though that is the intended audience. A caregiver should be at hand to explain the potential hazards and correct the mistakes that are described within the pages of the book.

[Okafor Prosper]

Thia has to be the first negative review I've read on this book.