Smelly Socks

my daughters absolutely love to read this book, we've had for nearly two years and my girls like to read it over and over again, they are 5 and 7. it always makes them giggle. It's a fun book for kids and as a parent I don't mind reading it because it really is funny!
you can almost smell the socks while you read the book...

Smelly Socks by Robert Munsch

Tina bought some socks. She wanted them so badly she went across the river to get them! A few days later they turned SMELLY!!! The kids at school did something about it. They took her and washed the socks off!!!

This is a great book! I like it because it has a lesson. I would recommend it to my mom.

Our three-year-old daughter loves this book. As others have noted, it's a lot of fun. But I have been struck by how she has taken on the defiant attitude of the book's main character. In the book, the protagonist refuses to wash her smelly socks...her continual response as they become smellier and smellier is "Never!" Her friends finally take her by force and wash both her and her smelly socks. When you really think about it, this isn't really that funny: what parent would want a daughter who absolutely refuses to change her socks? What parent would want the community taking her daughter by force and throwing her in a river? I don't want to get too heavy-handed about this, I mean, part of the function of fairy tales etc. is to express fantasies and forbidden things and scary things. And something about this story really struck a chord with our daughter. The fact that she now says "Never!" to many simple requests is a bit worrisome. And yet, when she says "Never!" it's like she's reveling in her own personal power, just the way the girl in the story does----until she's dunked in the river as a result of her obstinacy. Luckily our daughter has not become that obstinate...otherwise, I'd say this book is a definite impediment to a child having the right attitude about obeying reasonable requests from parents.

Robert Munsch is my daughter's favorite author (and one of mine too!). As soon as I see his name, I am assured the story will be great and have great humor and great characters. We enjoyed this book very much it is a really close second to my daughter's all time favorite (ZOOM!). Thanks so much!

Robert Munsch again creates a great story that children will enjoy. Smelly Socks creates a nice little world of a girl with a mission. But all the other characters have different ideas. In the end we realize that the little girl are is completely in control of her fate.

Gosh, I love his books. Inexpensive, short, and they make no pretense of "moralizing" or "educating" at all - no Aesops, no phonics, none of that, just good old-fashioned storytelling.

Tina needs new socks. (Note - given that this book is dedicated to a Tina who lives on Hay River Dene Reserve, I'm going to assume that, like that Tina, the Tina in this book is probably First Nations as well, and in this world of picture books it's always nice to see some diversity.) And not boring black socks - AWESOME SOCKS.

So she asks her mother to take her to the shop store, but the bridge is a long way away and, uh, no. So she asks her grandfather and rows there. (With maybe a little help.) And hey - awesome rainbow socks! She's never gonna take them off! (Do you know a kid like that? One favorite shirt and god help you if you suggest that maybe it might survive a trip through the washer? Yeah, this is something like that.)

Her mother is very understanding, even when birds are literally falling out of the sky around her (Martchenko's illustrations, as always, are top notch and this book is worth getting for those alone), but her friends are less so and go scrub her socks in the river. (Even down the river, people, we're told, asked "Why does it smell like dirty socks?") And she learns a valuable lesson - "If I wait long enough, other people will wash my clothes for me." (The closing illustrations indicates she unlearned this lesson the hard way. Sure hope she can swim!)

It's super funny, very exaggerated and over the top, great to read. You're bound to have a lot of fun with it :)

The book is definitely funny and enjoyable even for an adult. But as a mom, I do not approve this for my young child because the hidden message of the story is not positive to any young person. At the end of the story, the young girl kiddingly said that if she waited long enough, her friends at school would clean her clothes for her. While it sounds very funny and she is most likely only joking, it conveys the idea that "if one waits long enough OTHERS WILL DO THINGS FOR THEM". I would much rather pick other funny books that will teach my child positive values/characters at the same time.

Robert Munsch again creates a great story that children will enjoy. Smelly Socks creates a nice little world of a girl with a mission. But all the other characters have different ideas. In the end we realize that the little girl are is completely in control of her fate.

The book is definitely funny and enjoyable even for an adult. But as a mom, I do not approve this for my young child because the hidden message of the story is not positive to any young person. At the end of the story, the young girl kiddingly said that if she waited long enough, her friends at school would clean her clothes for her. While it sounds very funny and she is most likely only joking, it conveys the idea that "if one waits long enough OTHERS WILL DO THINGS FOR THEM". I would much rather pick other funny books that will teach my child positive values/characters at the same time.