Name: I Love You, Stinky Face
ISBN: 9780439634694

Lisa McCourt

As a mother lovingly tucks her child into bed, the imaginative child has a few questions. For instance, "what if I were an alligator with big, sharp teeth that could bite your head off?" This unstoppably devoted mother will have readers laughing out loud as replies to one question after another.

I Love You, Stinky Face

Sarah Sammis

Since joining BookCrossing in 2003, most of the books I've read have been BookCrossing books, either in the form of books I have gotten from other members or my books that I have registered in order to release once I've read them. I Love You, Stinky Face breaks with that tradition as it is a book Sean has borrowed from his preschool.

Sometime this summer while I was giving Sean a bath, he exclaimed "I love you stinky face." I had no idea how to react. Was he insulting me? Was it a strange term of endearment? Was he quoting something out of context? At the time, thinking he might be trying more playground humor, I cautioned him not call people stinky faces. Finally Sean explained that I Love You, Stink Face is a book they've been reading at school.

Over the weekend, Sean borrowed the book from his preschool so we could finally read it together. I wasn't expecting to like the book given the title but within a couple of pages, I was enchanted by it. It is a book about unconditional love of a mother for her child. The child at bed time asks his mother if she would still love him if he were to change into a variety of things: dinosaur, gorilla, skunk (hence the "stinky face"), and swamp monster for example. The mother responds that yes she would still love him and she lists the various ways she would accommodate his changes (like moving into a home next to the swamp).

Besides the message of love and acceptance, the book captures the typical sorts of questions kids Sean's age ask their parents. I could completely relate to the mother in the book, though I have to learn how to not get flustered at some of Sean's odder questions. I think I will get Sean a copy of this book the next time I go book shopping.

If I were to make a journal entry at BookCrossing for I Love You, Stinky Face, I would rate it a ten out of ten stars. It really is that good and the illustrations are fun too.

I Love You, Stinky Face

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