Oscar and the Awful, Horrible Smell

by Betty Cetas, Ugur Kose (Illustrator)

Overview

Readers' Choice Book Awards 2023 Silver Metalist
Firebird Awards, Second Place Fall 2023
Finalist, The Wishing Shelf Book Awards (2023)
Honorable Mention, Royal Dragonfly Book Awards (2023)

Like a fresh onion, Oscar and the Awful, Horrible Smell will bring tears to your eyes as you laugh your way through Oscar’s show and smell adventure.

Do you know a child who won’t change their socks, doesn’t like to take bathes, or simply has stinky feet? Then this is the story for you!

Follow Oscar on his adventure through the forest as he searches for the source of a very stinky smell. This story introduces new adjectives through repetition, as Oscar puts himself into humorous and often awkward situations as he hunts down the increasingly awful, horrible smell, only to discover that the terrible smell is coming from his own feet.

This story teaches children about personal hygiene and self-awareness in a gentle, humorous way that will delight readers of all ages.

“Children will find Oscar’s encounters with each terrible smell hilarious, while learning new words by repetition at the same time …. The illustrations are bright and cheerful, and Oscar is relatable, a chubby, pink, wide-eyed innocent who gets into trouble without meaning to. … [C]hildren will giggle with delight as Oscar encounters each new ‘horrible, rotten, putrid, terrible, nasty, stinky’ smell in his pastoral world.” – BlueInk Review (2022)

“The author successfully builds momentum and invites reader participation through an increasingly long list of odor-related adjectives ... The silliness is skillfully crafted …” — Kirkus Reviews (2022)

“Young children love silly stories, and the funnier, dirtier, smellier, and more gruesome the better! They will love this story and fall in love with the adorable (but rather smelly) Oscar.
Star rating: 5 Stars” Readers’ Choice Book Awards (2023)

“A sweetly written, superbly illustrated story of Oscar, the troll, who’s determined to discover where the stinky smell is coming from. Highly recommended!” - The Wishing Shelf (2023)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781956277067
Publisher:	Windy Sea Publishing
Publication date:	11/05/2023
Series:	Troll Tales and Other Stories from Grandma's Cottage
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	11.26(w) x 8.73(h) x 0.14(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Betty Cetas enjoys traveling and has visited many places around the world. She especially loves the log cottage she bought in the remote woods of Finland, where she spent summers with her family and friends, telling fanciful stories of a provincial troll, a shy moose, and an impish fish. She and her husband, and their little dog, Jesse, live half the year in Tucson, AZ and the other half in Portland, OR. Oscar and the Awful, Horrible Smell is her first book with many more to come.

Editorial Reviews

“A sweetly written, superbly illustrated story of Oscar, the troll, who’s determined to discover where the stinky smell is coming from. Highly recommended!” – The Wishing Shelf

The Wishing Shelf - Billy Buttons

Young children love silly stories, and the funnier, dirtier, smellier, and more gruesome the better! They will love this story and fall in love with the adorable (but rather smelly) Oscar.

Star rating: 5 Stars”
Readers’ Choice Book Awards

s' Choice Book Awards

Children will find Oscar’s encounters with each terrible smell hilarious, while learning new words by repetition at the same time (the author uses the phrase “horrible, rotten, putrid, terrible, nasty, stinky smell” with each new smelly encounter). The illustrations are bright and cheerful, and Oscar is relatable, a chubby, pink, wide-eyed innocent who gets into trouble without meaning to. … [C]hildren will giggle with delight as Oscar encounters each new ‘horrible, rotten, putrid, terrible, nasty, stinky’ smell in his pastoral world.” – BlueInk Review

BlueInk Review

2022-07-06
A mysterious and terrible odor spoils a berry-picking troll’s peaceful day in the woods in Cetas’ picture book.

Young children who find the mention of stinky smells hilarious should get a giggle out of this tale of a troll named Oscar who’s mystified by a stench wafting through his forest. Before discovering the surprising source, Oscar follows his nose to a mushroom patch, a wolverine den, a trout pond, fresh moose dung, and more. The author successfully builds momentum and invites reader participation through an increasingly long list of odor-related adjectives: A “stinky smell” eventually becomes an “awful, horrible, rotten, putrid, terrible, nasty, stinky smell.” For added emphasis, select words are enlarged and italicized, and Oscar’s reactions (such as “ick!!!” and “yuck!!!!”) are hand-drawn in various colors at different angles. The silliness is skillfully crafted despite a few errors: barredinstead of baredand “very sensitive smell” instead of “very sensitive sense of smell.” The text-enhancing quality of Kose’s whimsical, full-page watercolor illustrations gives the book an edge over similar titles. Comical Oscar, in two-button overalls, has a huge nose and goofy, toothy grin; the stench’s cartoony origin will satisfy the target audience, and a background palette of soft greens, blues, and browns provides contrast, sprinkled with details for readers to discover.

A lively, humorous narrative enhanced by charming illustrations.

Kirkus Reviews