[LISTENED TO: April 15, 2016] Stink: the World’s Worst Super-Stinky Sneakers & the Great Guinea Pig Express
T. was listening to this book in her room and I said, hey, that’s Bart Simpson. And indeed, the book was being read by Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart (as well as Nelson, Ralph, and dozens of other minor characters). The next day we went on a car ride and she asked to listen to the stories. So we did. I heard the end of the Guinea Pig story and then all of the sneaker story. Well, I couldn’t have a half finished story in my head so I had to listen to the beginning of the guinea pig story too, and call it all finished.
I knew of Stink from the Judy Moody books. Stink is Judy’s younger brother (and she’s pretty awful in these books. I don’t recall if she was awful in her own books). But that could just be because this is about Stink and not her. We learn how Stink got his name: Judy started singing a song about him in which stink was the chorus. And it just stuck.
Stink goes by Stink in school and elsewhere. And apparently he has a super duper sniffer (this may just be a coincidence and not a side effect of being called Stink).
In the first book, his class is taken to the Everybody Stinks exhibit at the science museum. There are dozens of crazy exhibits (it sounds like a lot of fun). But the one that all the kids are drawn to is the identify-the-body-smell. And Stink is right there. He lifts all of the flaps and identifies armpits and feet and farts and everything else. Including things the other kids are too afraid to smell. No one scores as high as Stink.
His friends begin to call him The Nose.
And then the most exciting news of all. Their town is hosting the World’s Worst Super-Stinky Sneakers contest. Stink believes that he is a shoo in. But his friend Sophie of the Elves (I love that she is called that and it is not stated why in this book) claims that her sneakers are the worst smelling sneakers ever.
And so the race is on for ultimate smelldom.
When they get to the contest Stink meets a man who is a professional smellier–something that Stink hopes he can be someday. This guy smells for NASA-and his section is fascinating (I assume it is a real job?).
I really enjoyed the way this story wrapped up and I really loved Sophie’s explanation for why her shoes smell so bad. Sophie sounds like a hoot.
Book Two:
In the Great Guinea Pig Express, since I had missed the first three tracks, I had no idea why Stink and his friends were trying to get rid of 101 guinea pigs.
Well, it turns out that a local chemical company was using them as, yes guinea pigs. And so Mrs Birdwhistle, the owner of the local pet shop offered to take all of them in. And then she realized how much of a hassle that would be. So it’s up to Stink, Sophie and their friend Webster to give those piggies away to good homes. Mrs Birdwhistle paints up her van to look like a guinea pig, the kids call it Squeals on Wheels, and off they go.
The kids are able to give some away in town. But going door to door is not the best way to get rid of animals. So they decide to take the bus to Virginia Beach (I assume they live in Virginia, and I assume that Stink’s parents were okay with this and that they didn’t just take off without alerting adults).
Many crazy thing happen along the way. Actually, we have guinea pigs and they are not exactly active animals, so I have a hard time believing the mischief these guys get up to. Of course here are 101, so with that many there would be much more mischief.
The only real concern is whether or not Stink will get to keep the one guinea pig that he really likes–it has blue eyes, which I thin might be creepy.
In addition to the story, the chapter ends contain Stink’s facts. For the first story there are facts about foot odor and sneakers and smells. For the guinea pigs there’s all kinds of information about guinea pigs–the largest ones, their relatives the capybara and other interesting details.
These stories are quick and enjoyable. And once I got past that it was Bart reading them, I really liked Cartwright;’s voice selections.
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