Darrin Lunde, author and collections manager at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, and illustrator Erica J. Chen (Who's Making All That NOISE?!) collaborate again in Who's Making That Big STINK?!, a delightful addition to the Whose Is THAT? series of picture books. Here, Lunde and Chen share a mixed bouquet of nature's odors depicted through playful and expressive digital illustrations.
Lunde's narrative--which focuses on the more odiferous inhabitants of the animal and plant world--is likely to illicit giggles and snickers, wrinkled noses and "ewww"s, as he compares smells to "rotten eggs and smelly feet" or "cow poop." Chen's exaggerated yet realistic animals join young readers in responding to the odors; a fox is thrown back by the smell of a skunk, and a tiger luxuriates in the aroma of buttered popcorn emanating from a binturong ("Not every animal with a strong odor smells bad!"). Lunde's text includes fascinating tidbits about why animals have these odors, such as the ring-tailed lemur, which uses scent to attract a mate, or the hippopotamus, which "twirls its tail to spread its smelly poop all over the riverbank, marking its territory." Odor plays a vital role in the natural world, and Lunde helps emerging readers appreciate its importance.
Chen's anthropomorphic animals add to the entertainment as their fuzzy faces twist in disgust, surprise, or interest. Funnier still are the faces of the animals producing the strong scents: the musk oxen are having a grand time, and the skunk is undoubtedly smirking. Lunde and Chen give budding naturalists a wonderful whiff of the great outdoors. --Jen Forbus, freelancer