Stinky by Eleanor Davis

Stinky enjoys his stinky yet simple life. His cave has bats and bugs and a pet toad named Wartbelly. He has an abundant supply of pickled bananas, pickled eggs, and pickled onions. The moment he leaves his cave, his neighbors call him by name. "Hi, Stinky," says the squirrel and dragonfly. "Good morning, Stinky," says the bird and the porcupine. Even the turtle, frogs, and alligator greet Stinky.

His swamp has mushy, mucky mud and a bottomless pit and an onion patch and wonderfully stinky smell. Best of all, it’s all his. Ah…home smelly home.

Stinky must be careful, however, because on the other side of the swamp is a town. “Towns have kids,” Stinky explains, “and kids don’t like swamps. They like to take baths!” How could a monster befriend anyone who doesn’t like mud or slugs or smelly monsters like him? “I stay away from them,” he declares.

Stinky does all he can to avoid kids, but what can he do when a kid wanders onto his territory? A kid! In his swamp! Stinky tries to get rid of the boy. He tries to stink him out with Wartbelly. He steals his hammer and tries scaring him with a ghost costume. Nothing works. Stinky’s final plan? Give up.

In his frustration Stinky gets himself into quite a predicament – trapped at the bottom of the bottomless pit! (“Well, maybe not a bottomless pit!” Stinky realizes. “But it’s very deep.”) And who is the only person in the swamp to hear his cries? Yep, it’s the boy, Nick.

Now Stinky’s only hope is something he has always tried to avoid. A kid! More specifically, the boy he tried so desperately to run out of his swamp.

Eleanor Davis’ book is a great addition to the Toon Book library, and a great addition to any classroom library with emerging readers, especially readers whose likes and dislikes include mushy, mucky mud, slimy slugs, and stinky smells.