Smelly Stuff

Now kids, here is a book that will really get up your nose! It will give you a good look around inside those nostrils, too! Yum!

We know dogs are good at following a scent, but what about us poor humans? And by the way, guys, if you really want to impress your girlfriend with a bunch of flowers, what’s the one flower you should never have in that bouquet?  Yes, it’s the dead-horse arum. One sniff and you’ll know why the poor flower got that name!

There’s even a chapter on farts! (Sorry, “gas” or flatulence”!) And did you know that the ancient Romans actually had a law making it legal to fart at banquets!

You’re feeling sick? Don’t go to the doctor, ask your dog. One sniff and he’ll give you a diagnosis! (Maybe that should be a “dognosis”?) 

Smelly Stuff is loaded with super cool images, a lively down-to-earth text, author Alan Trussell-Cullen’s wacky sense of humor, and amazing facts about the work done by that incredible organ we humans use to hold up our sun glasses, yes, the nose. Other features include text boxes, visual gags, an index and glossary, plus fun quizzes to test the reader’s knowledge and understanding.

Yep! There’s a lot to be sniffed at in this book, especially if you are a kid between the age of 7 and 17 (or 70!). You’ll really enjoy showing it to all the kids in your class! You might even make your teachers laugh! (Either that, or they’ll confiscate your book so they can read it themselves!) 

You can try the Final Great Big Pong Quiz on all your friends to see how much they know.

Here are some sample questions to see how much you know already:

Pheromones are

Scary noises at night

Complaints made by Egyptian pharaohs

Smell signals that provide information and instructions for other animals


Decomposition is

Writing a story by starting at the end first

When dead stuff gets broken down into smaller stuff

Writing music that stinks


Smelly Stuff is the third in the Good Stuff Books series by New Zealand children’s author Alan Trussell-Cullen who has written over 400 books for kids, as well as stage plays, TV comedy scripts, and lots of zany kid’s poems. Other titles in the series include Really Big Stuff, Poisonous Stuff, and Really Fast Stuff.