Official Review: Santa's Smelly Socks! by Len Foley

[Mallory Whitaker]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Santa's Smelly Socks!" by Len Foley.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Have you ever wondered why we hang stockings on the mantle for Christmas? Well, Len Foley takes a stab at answering this question in his children’s book Santa’s Smelly Socks!

It’s Christmas Eve, and Santa and his team of reindeer are on their way to deliver gifts to the people of Sloppy Town. They’ve left him a surprise of their own, however. Santa’s absolutely disgusted by the piles of stinky, dirty laundry all around the town. How can Santa try to show them the error of their ways? Will they change their stinky ways?

Len Foley’s book is full of gross humor that would probably be most appealing to 3- to 8-year-old children. I was honestly expecting the book to be more about the gross humor than the plot, but I was pleasantly surprised. There’s a strong storyline with a nice twist that will teach children about both humility and the importance of keeping things - and ourselves - clean.

The illustrations in the book are a little eclectic, which makes them somewhat difficult to describe. There’s a backdrop that sets the scene, but then the details - like Santa, piles of dirty clothes, or the town sign - look like they’ve been pasted on top of it. Overall, it gives off a collage-type vibe. This style, along with the vibrant colors, really makes the focal points pop.

Sometimes, when text is placed on top of images, it can be difficult to read. Thankfully, that’s not the case here. Foley has fun with the text, varying the size, color, and font to emphasize certain words. There’s a rhyming scheme as well, which gives the story a nice cadence and rhythm.

I found a few errors, the majority of which involved absent dialogue tags. I didn’t find the errors distracting, however. So, I am happy to award this book 4 out of 4 stars. I thought it had a nice message, and the humor was just gross enough to be funny, but not so gross that it could be labeled as inappropriate. If you want to share a nontraditional Christmas story with your children, you should consider reading this one to them.

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Santa's Smelly Socks!
View: on Bookshelves

[Sonya Nicolaidis]

What a great review! You sound like you really enjoyed this book, even the grossly smelly details you so aptly describe! I can see this being a great little Christmas gift for children. Many thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[lynnwwork]

With Christmas on the way, this will be perfect. Christmas is many people's favorite holiday, it is definitely mine. Snuggled up by the fire with my nieces, reading to them this seemingly unpredictable book, that sounds like the perfect evening. I am actually quite curious to know exactly what unfolds in this book. It can teach the children the importance of keeping their environs and themselves clean, that is a huge plus. Already giving it a four out of four just for those simple reasons. Looking forward to enjoying this with my nieces.

[PeterRabitt20]

This sounds like a book I would enjoy reading with my kid. The more detailed the illustrations, the merrier. Thank you for your well-written review.

[Sou Hi]

Oh my, when I read the title, I thought it would be about Santa's own socks; turned out it's the town's socks Mr. Santa has to endure. Poor Santa, I hope he was able to teach the sloppy people of Sloppy Town a lesson .

[Yvonne Monique]

I am glad to read that this book is not only about gross humor but also has a decent plot to it!

[Brenda Creech]

This sounds like an adorable book, despite the 'gross' humor! Children seem to find grossness funny, and what could be better than including Santa in the story to teach them a lesson? Sounds great, and your review was excellent!

[Leen282]

The title and cover page made me want to read the book, but I first came here for the review of the BOTD. Gross humour - yep that will certainly appeal to my kids. I am happy to read the positive review mentioning the drawings, the text font, the cadence. I will now go and read my free copy - thanks!

[Noelle770]

This seems like a fun Christmas read for younger children who enjoy gross humor.

[Fasmin]

Now that I think about it, it is strange that you hang socks over a fire place...

I like the way this story sounds, but I'd rather not teach my siblings any more gross humour. It just simply isn't my taste, and I doubt my mom would like it as well.

[Adedayo+23]

A delightfully humorous children’s book with eye catching illustrations. A great book to gift a kid at Christmas. Great review.

[Ferdinand_Otieno]

This is an interesting and hilarious children`s fiction novel highlighting Christmas, Santa Claus, humor, humility, and the importance of cleanliness. The book is temporarily free on Amazon Kindle and has a well-written OnlineBookClub review. Congrats @LenFoley on the BOTD.

[blueberryncheese_]

This is great! Thank you for your review you have just helped me in selecting the book that i will be reading to my niece. I think this is perfect! Not only because my niece kept asking me about Santa but mainly because you mentioned the strong storyline which will teach children about both humility and keeping things & ourselves clean. Also you made it seem fun to read and children learns best when they are having fun. I think this is very timely Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Happy Holidays!

[Ndiviwe]

Sound like a funny children's book. I would definitely get the book for my little sister or maybe I could read it to her.

[AntonelaMaria]

I'm curious about this book even though I am not a child. Will check it out. Especially about writing and how funny it is. Great job with the review.