Customer Reviews

Smelly Socks

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Smelly Socks is the story of a young girl, Tina, who loves her colorful new socks so much that she refuses to take them off, leading to some hilarious consequences.

This is a tall tale that will appeal to young children who, like Tina, often have a favorite piece of clothing that they want to wear all the time. Some of the lines in the book repeat, and children can participate in the telling of the story.

The book is also a very realistic and refreshing look at little girls. Tina is a spunky child, a real girl whose socks smell when she doesn't take them off! It is something different from the ubiquitous dainty princess paraphernalia. This book is a must-have for every little girl's library. The watercolor illustrations are expressive and support the story very well.

My family has always loved Robert Munsch's book " I Have to Go". My 4yr old liked to read it so much he brought it into the bath with him. Needless to say we had to replace it and that is when I saw all the other stories that Robert has. I bought several of his books and I have to say that "Smelly Socks" is one of our favorites. I think my son asked me to read it everynight for 1 week straight!!!!

Robert Munsch again creates a great story that children will enjoy. Smelly Socks creates a nice little world of a girl with a mission. But all the other characters have different ideas. In the end we realize that the little girl are is completely in control of her fate.

It's great to find books for girls that give them an alternative to the princess personna that is prevalent even today. I'm glad my granddaughters have choices like this book along with the more traditional "girl" stories that are still much in evidence today.

My 4 yr old loves it and I love the humor in it as well. It's a little too long to completely keep my 2 yr old's attention, but she enjoys it too.
Generally, I really likes Munsch's books, but I have a little issue with the kids' behavior at times. As another reviewer mentioned, in Smelly Socks, the girl is a little demanding in her interactions with her mom and grandpa. It's not extreme and I think you can downplay how she sounds when you read it aloud to your kids.
Anyway, the girl's attitude toward adult family members is my only issue and it's not major, but I thought I'd mention it.

The book is about Tina and how she never wants to take her favorite pair of socks off even to have them washed! I think it is an excellent book for 4 to 8 year olds. We all know how funny it is to children to talk/hear about smelly things! "Eeew!"

The stinky smell of socks does not bother Tina, but it bothers everyone else including the animals... I think that it is hilarious to see what the stinky smell of her socks does to all the animals in her way. I also like how persistent Tina is against everyone telling her to wash her socks! And when her friends cannot stand the smell any longer, they wash her socks! And she figures it all out - why bother washing them, someone will do it for you when they are smelly enough! Her socks are washed by her friends and she gets rewarded with a matching shirt for getting her socks cleaned! Now she has two things she will never, ever take off!

Our three-year-old daughter loves this book. As others have noted, it's a lot of fun. But I have been struck by how she has taken on the defiant attitude of the book's main character. In the book, the protagonist refuses to wash her smelly socks...her continual response as they become smellier and smellier is "Never!" Her friends finally take her by force and wash both her and her smelly socks. When you really think about it, this isn't really that funny: what parent would want a daughter who absolutely refuses to change her socks? What parent would want the community taking her daughter by force and throwing her in a river? I don't want to get too heavy-handed about this, I mean, part of the function of fairy tales etc. is to express fantasies and forbidden things and scary things. And something about this story really struck a chord with our daughter. The fact that she now says "Never!" to many simple requests is a bit worrisome. And yet, when she says "Never!" it's like she's reveling in her own personal power, just the way the girl in the story does----until she's dunked in the river as a result of her obstinacy. Luckily our daughter has not become that obstinate...otherwise, I'd say this book is a definite impediment to a child having the right attitude about obeying reasonable requests from parents.

The book is definitely funny and enjoyable even for an adult. But as a mom, I do not approve this for my young child because the hidden message of the story is not positive to any young person. At the end of the story, the young girl kiddingly said that if she waited long enough, her friends at school would clean her clothes for her. While it sounds very funny and she is most likely only joking, it conveys the idea that "if one waits long enough OTHERS WILL DO THINGS FOR THEM". I would much rather pick other funny books that will teach my child positive values/characters at the same time.

When my daughter was younger, I bought a few books from this author. After many moves we lost the books. On her 21st birthday, my daughter asked me if I these books stil existed. I bought them on Amazon and put them with her birthday gifts. She was very (emotional)happy to see these books, it brought back many happy memories.

Smelly Socks by Robert Munsch

Tina bought some socks. She wanted them so badly she went across the river to get them! A few days later they turned SMELLY!!! The kids at school did something about it. They took her and washed the socks off!!!

This is a great book! I like it because it has a lesson. I would recommend it to my mom.