2024
WISE Score
A scratch-and-sniff mystery where you help find a stolen rotten egg by sniffing your way through a lineup of stinky suspects.
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This is a mandatory buy for any kid in their 'gross-out' phase. It takes the classic scratch-and-sniff gimmick and actually ties it to a competent, funny mystery. Monica Arnaldo has a knack for making books that feel like a shared joke between the author and the kid.
It’s short, punchy, and highly repeatable. Just be prepared to smell a rotten egg about fifty times before lights out. It’s the kind of book that reminds you that physical media still has tricks that an iPad can't touch.
Perfect for the 3-to-7 crowd. It hits that sweet spot where 'gross' is the funniest thing in the world, but the mystery is simple enough for a preschooler to follow.
It is pure, silly, gross-out fun that captures the exact frequency of a six-year-old's sense of humor without any mean-spiritedness.
It turns a passive reading experience into a sensory scavenger hunt. Monica Arnaldo is a master of the 'weird and wonderful' picture book subgenre.
It is a physical picture book about stinky smells. The only risk is a slightly wrinkled nose or a kid trying to scratch the screen if you buy it on Kindle (don't do that).
The mystery framework builds basic deductive reasoning and observational skills, while the interactive elements keep reluctant readers engaged with the physical object of the book.
Scratch-and-sniff books used to be a staple of the 80s and 90s, but they’ve largely faded into novelty bins. The Museum of Very Bad Smells brings the tech back for a legitimate reason: narrative. Instead of just smelling a strawberry because a character is eating one, you’re using your nose to eliminate suspects in a museum heist. It’s a clever use of the medium that turns a toddler into a participant.
Monica Arnaldo, who previously gave us the delightfully weird Mr. S (about a sandwich that may or may not be a kindergarten teacher), has a very specific brand of humor. It’s slightly off-kilter, visually dense, and respects a child's ability to handle something a little bit messy. The 'bad' smells here—like the world-famous rotten egg—are the stars.
For parents, the 'enrichment' here isn't about learning the alphabet; it's about building the language comprehension strands of literacy through active engagement. When a kid is leaning in to sniff a page, they are deeply invested in the plot. That's the win. If you're looking for a gift for a kid who 'doesn't like books,' this is your secret weapon.
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