Review by Ajanta -- Sigfried’s Smelly Socks!

[Ajanta]

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

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2 out of 4 stars

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Sigfried’s Smelly Socks! by Len Foley is an awfully stinky book and unless your kids savor all kind of gory and monstrous kids literature, they could stay away from it.

The illustrations and caricatures are bright and funny often evoking the real smells and herein lies the trouble, the book is full of too many not so pleasant smells which are not just food. How about toilet seat and rotten cabbage? Yes, the stuff about kids having piles of unwashed smelly socks is relatable and will strike a chord with kids and so will the pretty socks pics and realistic images of food items and the rhyming languages style and the smooth word flow. I was also impressed by the interesting font style, it is sure to hook the attention of readers.

The book deploys several devices to capture a kids imagination and it succeeds but all the build-up ultimately leads to nothing but a hollow and bitter experience. What I was looking for was an enjoyable story woven around the stinky socks but there was none to be found.

The book is meant to be read to the tiny tots but I don’t think they will appreciate being mocked at for being source of the stink as is done at one particular instance.

And the climax scene is a let-down to say the least, it left me wondering at the author’s intention, does the author really want the kids to emulate this one or to derive humor in it, either ways it is not in good taste. Of course it is nobody’s case that kids’ literature should be preachy but here the outrageous ending could have been avoided. After all this picture story book is meant for young minds who can be easily influenced.

I am going with 2 stars out of 4, while I do appreciate the effort gone in its illustrations, I do not consider the book as responsible enough.

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Sigfried’s Smelly Socks!
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