If you grew up in the Canadian school system, you are familiar with beloved children's author, Robert Munsch. His classics include, "Love You Forever", "The Paper Bag Princess", and "Mortimer" (to name a few). On the heels of Canada Day, I'm excited to feature a Canadian literary icon in this week's story-telling Sunday blog.
Perhaps less familiar, "Smelly Socks" is a silly, colourful, and fun story that leads to lots of giggles in my household. Written by Robert Munsch & illustrated by Michael Martchenko, the book tells the tale of a girl named Tina who loves her new socks so much that she can't get herself to peel them off. Sound familiar!? I can think of a few times that my kids have wanted to wear the same superhero outfit for days on end!
Days and days go by, and Tina's brand new socks turn into quite the smelly socks! Her human and animal friends begin to react to the stinky smell. My kids get a kick out of all the vibrant illustrations that show all of the funny reactions as Tina walks by with her smelly socks. Munsch's silly and comedic writing style shines through with lines like:
"After Tina wore her socks for ten more days, a whole flock of Canada geese flew over her house and dropped right out of the sky from the smell."
Tina is an endearing main character that walks through life with confidence and conviction, and is really unbothered by her "smelly socks". I also appreciate the fact that she isn't being ridiculed in the story, rather her friends want to jump in and help clean Tina's dirty socks. Munsch does a great job of keeping the story light-hearted and funny, without it being at the expense of the main character.
"Some of the kids held Tina, and some of the kids washed the socks. SCRUB, SCRUB, SCRUB, SCRUB, SCRUB!"
Michael Martchenko's illustrations are brilliant. Bright, expressive, and dimensional are a few words that come to mind when describing the pictorial story-telling in "Smelly Socks". I also enjoy the level of detail in each spread, and my kids like discovering little nuances in each illustration.
Robert Munsch never disappoints with engaging stories that kids love. If you're looking for a fun light-hearted story that caters to 4-6 year olds, "Smelly Socks" delivers. You can also check out all of Munsch's classics on his website: https://robertmunsch.com
Happy reading!
(And Happy Canada Day weekend)!
Comments