What Stinks? [Hardcover]

Marilyn Singer (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 4-6. The cover of this uproarious, fact-filled picture book for older children can't miss: it's a photo of a grade-schooler screwing up his face in disgust at the smells of onions, a skunk, a garbage can, and a toddler's diapered behind. The fun continues inside. Each double-page spread is packed with color photos and information about the ways various animals and plants use stinky substances, ranging from excrement and musk to vomit, to mark their territory, frighten their enemies, attract their mates, and more. Readers will initially be drawn by the illustrations and the silly puns ("To pee or not to pee"), but they'll also find a wealth of fascinating, quite complex information about biology. Sometimes the chatty style is too cute, but the factual details and the photos are amazing. A lengthy bibliography, a page of Web sites, and a glossary are appended. Pair this with Robert Sedden's Yuck! (1996), which introduces kids to dust mites, fungi, and other disgusting but common critters. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Darby Creek Publishing (April 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581960352
• ISBN-13: 978-1581960358
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,900,794 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marilyn Singer was born in the Bronx (New York City) on October 3, 1948 and lived most of her early life in N. Massapequa (Long Island), NY. She attended Queens College, City University of New York, and for her junior year, Reading University, England. She holds a B.A. in English from Queens and an M.A. in Communications from New York University.

In 1974, after teaching English in New York City high schools for several years, she began to write - initially film notes, catalogues, teacher's guides, and film strips. Then, one day, when she was sitting in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, she penned a story featuring talking insect characters she'd made up when she was eight. Encouraged by the responses she got, she wrote more stories, and in 1976, her first book, The Dog Who Insisted He Wasn't, was published by E.P.Dutton & Co.

Since then, Marilyn has published over eighty books for children and young adults. Her genres are many and varied, including realistic novels, fantasies, non-fiction, fairy tales, picture books, mysteries and poetry. She likes writing many different kinds of books because it's challenging and it keeps her from getting bored.

Marilyn currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband Steve; their standard poodle Oggi, seen in the home page photo; a cat named August ; two collared doves named Jubilee and Holiday; and a starling that says, "Hi. How are you? Sweet Birdie. Okay!" Her interests include ballroom/Latin dancing, dog training, reading, hiking, bird-watching, gardening, playing computer adventure games, and going to the movies and the theatre. She's also a major Star Trek fan.

Marilyn is the former host of the AOL Children's Writers Chat and currently co-hosts the Poetry Blast at various conferences. Visit her web site: www.marilynsinger.net.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Way super cool!, September 28, 2006

By 

Wardy "Wardy's Reviews" - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Stinks? (Hardcover)

This book is a fantastic addition to the kids library of books they'll actually WANT to read. It's fun and witty and the design is way super awsome! The only thing that could improve it is scratch and sniff. On second thought...