MY STINKY DOG

In this French import, a little boy narrates a story about his dog, Alfred, who has a great personality but a significant odor issue.

Faithful companion Alfred is always there to cheer up his owner. The huge dog has short, brown fur, an oval body, and an unusual, white nose reminiscent of a cheese grater. Alfred hasn’t had a bath in some time, if ever, and he smells so bad that he attracts flies. The little boy effects change by scrubbing Alfred clean, but then the dog evinces a personality change, tiptoeing around in a raincoat and boots so he doesn’t get dirty again. The boy gets down in the mud with Alfred to reinstate the dog’s distinctive stench, and order is restored as boy and dog float off on a cloud of odiferous fumes, heading for a new home together. Delightfully imaginative illustrations in a loose, cartoon style use white backgrounds and vibrant swirls of color to indicate Alfred’s odors. One hilarious double-page spread shows Alfred in profile as a sort of scent map, with each stinky area identified and each smell indicated by a symbolic key. The unnamed narrator has brown hair, pink cheeks, and white skin. (His face is a line drawing using the white space of the backgrounds.)

This funny story offers a fresh approach to accepting each individual’s unique personality.