The Great Smelling Bee (Rotten School #2)
Grade 3-5–This second installment in the series will suit those who find merriment in bodily functions run amok. A promising preface presents befuddled Headmaster Upchuck's morning announcements, which cover the Armpit Band tryouts, a tattoo exhibition, and an explanation of a poster misprint regarding the school's spelling bee. However, the quirky charm disappears with the know-it-all narration of Bernie Bridges. The story relies on the basest of humor via Gassy, a dog with gastrointestinal problems and an affinity for Mrs. Heinie's leg, and Lippy the parrot, who squawks BEAK me! Eat birdseed and DIE! The fourth-grade boys at this boarding school pull mean tricks, tattle, and easily dupe both faculty and fellow students. Park's cartoon drawings in each chapter, as well as a pull-out sticker sheet, lend aMAD Magazineelement that will please the intended audience who may be satisfied by this minnow of a plot awash with repetitive gross humor.–Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.