I Stink!

I STINK is an amazing amalgamation of text, image, story ,and rhyme with a kid favorite topic: GARBAGE TRUCKS! Readers will be riveted by in your face text that pops off the page fused with the bold watercolor illustrations that absolutely reek with urban rubbish and attitude. The alphabet soup of refuse consumed will delight children in their revulsion of dirty diapers, gobs of gum, moldy meatballs, and puppy poo. Throw in a lesson of how garbage trucks work told by the vehicle protagonist himself, and you get an alphabet book with attitude enough to appeal to readers of all ages.

Do many people know about this wonderful picture book? I think it is too overlooked. While a story about a garbage truck may not sound like a great idea, turns out, it can be. The story is told from the garbage truck's perspective, and the text is fabulous. The words pound out a rhythm that sounds a bit like rap, a bit like bebop, and creates an ode to garbage collecting, a job that is often denigrated but serves such an essential need for our country. Read this book to see how lights flashing, pistons pumping, and engines roaring can be poetic. Also, the alphabet soup in the middle is fun: the garbage truck recounts a sampling of the trash he might eat in a given day, using the alphabet as a structuring technique.

Narratively, the book show more follows the routine of a garbage truck in the city, from the moment it rolls out on the streets until it returns to the garage, garbage collected and compacted and ejected unto the garbage floats. The illustrations are humorous and playful, colorful and yet restricted to twilight shades, in keeping with the night time setting. My family has a good time reading this book together, as the lyrical narrative is great for read alouds and the subject is unique and funny. This is a highly entertaining book, and we're glad to have a personal copy. show less

The book starts out with a dedication to the NYC sanitation department. How often does that happen?

The whole length of the book is a garbage truck describing his day (our night, of course). Hence the line "Did I wake you? Well, TOO BAD." (I love that line. It's so true to life! Our garbage trucks always wake us here.)

This truck roars, burps, and is proud of his recipe for Alphabet Soup (including such delicacies as Dirty Diapers and Puppy Poo, not to mention Zipped up Ziti with Zucchini). And I love the pride with which our narrator declares that he stinks - but he's got an important job. Without him, as he ways, we're on "Mount Trash-o-rama, baby".

I can't say enough good things about this book. Definitely check it out.

Kate McMullan should be commended on taking an everyday occupation of garbage collecting and creating an intriguing picture book that allows children of all ages to look through the eyes of a garbage truck. Throughout the story, this confident and joyous garbage truck discusses his everyday job in detail, while bringing the humor and imagination that will touch children of all ages. Kate McMullan did an exceptional job in bringing her illustrations to life and applying some creative texts that would bring out the intent of the garbage truck's emotional state and words. My children were elated with the illustrated garbage alphabet and my emphasis over every tough talking comments made by the garbage truck. This book was not only show more entertainment for my children, but for me as well. show less

32 months - My husband didn't like this one but O did. I actually thought the story was not bad. I could see this appealing to little boys into cars and trucks. I liked the alphabet of garbage. It's also a good way to introduce the idea of where things go when we throw them away, trash, recycling etc. I was not really a fan of the illustration style but then who wants to see trash in full color and life like detail?!?

In my opinion this is an excellent book. The book is filled with great illustrations. For example, when the trash truck is compacting his garbage. The vivid colors with the garbage trucks clear emotions encapsulate the viewer’s interest. Additionally, as in the other “I’m” books, the ways the words are distributed around the page are done in such an artistic creative way that helps to accent the illustrations and the onomonopia words. At the same time, the author chooses different fonts and boldness to accent the words and the illustrations. This is most evident in “With ten wide tires, one really big appetite, and an even bigger smell, this truck’s got it all!” In addition, the language is very descriptive. The author show more goes back and forth between describing what the truck looks like, how much the truck loves his job, and how much it smells. This really grabs the reader’s attention making them continue to read. This is most evident in “Know what I do at night while you’re asleep? Eat your trash, that’s what! See those bags?” The big idea of this that having jobs that aren’t glorified are fun and okay. This book and author makes jobs that wouldn’t be considered desirable seem enchanting. show less

Even if it's not my cup of tea, I'll have to admit that it must hold huge appeal as a read aloud, especially for toddlers/preschoolers. Even just the title, I Stink!, was a big hit with my son already, he knew that was gonna make for some funny reading! He insisted on reading it himself, for his father, didn't maybe struggle but I noticed he was a bit thrown off or confused sometimes by the organization of the book and the typesetting. I didn't care for the illustrations, but they work well with the text. Finally, although not the main focus of the book, three page spreads with one trashy item for each letter of the alphabet give added value to the book and make it double as a concept book as well. I thought that was a nice touch, and show more that was my favorite part of the book and maybe even the funniest. show less