Something Smells! (Blake Liliane Hellman)

Title:  Something Smells!

Author:  Blake Liliane Hellman

Illustrator:  Steven Henry

Target Ages:  3-7

Genre:   Humorous Realistic Fiction Picture Book

Publisher Summary:  There is a smell.  A most terrible smell!  Is it the dog?  Is it the baby?  Is it the trash?  Or could it be Grandma’s Gefartzenschnaffel?  Something smells.  And Elliot is determined to find out what that something is!

First Lines:  

Early one morning,

Elliot woke up

to a most terrible smell. 

He looked around his room

and frowned. 

Something smells, he thought.

Memorable Moment:

“Elliot was disappointed he had not solved the mystery of the terrible smell.”  Readers will solve it—with the picture clues!

Evaluation:

The title is intriguing!  I picked up this book because I wanted to know—What smells?!   Children are sure to be interested too!   Who doesn’t love a mystery?

The story is engaging!  As the curious protagonist goes through the house, he encounters all sorts of possible “terrible” smells.  Each smell is an opportunity to guess if he has found the “right” one.  

There is some subtle humor.  For instance, Elliot thinks it is “perfectly clean” under his bed, and he says his leftover snack from days earlier doesn’t smell—at least not much.   Children will laugh at grandma’s famous dish—Gefartzenschnaffer.  Whether they try to say it themselves or guess what might be in it, there are sure to be some giggles.  The funniest part:  Elliot is unable to figure out the source of the smell—even though it is right under his nose! 

The clever watercolor and gouache illustrations are wonderful.  The soft, muted colors and uncluttered layouts, vividly illustrate the text and add to it by providing clues to the mystery. 

Something Smells is one thing you need to add to your class or home library this year.  This amusing and mysterious read is sure to charm your little ones.

Activities and Extension Ideas for Lesson Plans:

• Predicting Skills:  Ask the children to predict:  What do you think the terrible smell is?   How do you think Elliot will try to figure out the smell?
• Math:  Narrow to the top 5 predictions of the terrible smell.  Children can pick their best guess with a show of hands.  Make a bar graph to show how the class voted.
• Problem Solving:  Discuss how Elliot worked to solve the terrible smell mystery.  Connect this book with problem solving activities related to Math, Games, or Other Activities. 
• Context Clues:  After reading, go back to discover the context clues.  For instance, the smell is something that follows him wherever he goes, his mom tells him he can’t wear his costume one more day, and he doesn’t want to take it off—ever (implying he has worn it a long time).
• Five Senses:  Gather items with different smells—pleasant and unpleasant.  Blindfold one or more children.  Allow them to guess the smells.  Also discuss which smells are the best and which are the worst. 
• Writing:  Pick one smell from the Five Senses activity.  Children can describe the smell using a simple sentence like:  “__________ smells like __________ and ___________.”    
• Similes:  Teach about similes.  Point out examples in the book, such as “Digsy smelled like bacon” and “Lucy smelled like maple syrup.” Then, allow the children to write their own similes about the smell.  “Elliot’s costume is as stinky as a _______.“ 

Picture Books (Math): Addition, Perimeter, Area, & Volume

For Math Monday, I have two selections sent to me from Holiday House Publishers.   Each book is an enjoyable and educational way for children to see math in the world around them. 

Help MeLearn Addition (by Jean Marzollo)   

Help Me Learn Addition introduces several addition concepts to young children.  It begins with traditional counting in a snappy, rhyming verse format. 

How many puppets?  Look alive!

We count 1, 2, 3, 4,______ (5).

The number 5 is the last we say.

So that’s the answer:  Hip Hooray!

The verses always have an open ended part (as seen in the blank line) for the child listener to anticipate and to participate.  The end rhyme before it always gives the clue (alive/five), so predicting and rhyming skills are both being practiced. The illustrations are photographs of hands with puppets on the fingers, making the concept familiar and allowing it to be interactive.  

Then, the concept of addition begins with 0 and moves up to adding 1.   Both use duck figurines as visuals.  Other more advanced ideas are revealed like the commutative property of addition (7 + 3 = 10 and 3 + 7 = 10), grouping, skip counting, and using tally marks.  Each math problem is illustrated on an uncluttered, solid background with colorful toys or cute figurines, photographed by Chad Phillips.   A two page spread shows all the ways that 10 can be made using addition facts, also illustrating the commutative property.  Help Me Learn Addition is a wonderful early childhood read for ages 2-5.  Parents and preschool teachers will find this book essential in preparing children for primary math skills. 

Perimeter, Area, and Volume: A Monster Book of Dimensions (by David A. Adler)   

Many math concepts are packed into this selection.  Adler begins with a premise familiar to most children—a 3-D movie experience—as well as commonly used words—high, long, tall, and deep. The movie theater experience motif is used throughout the book to offer a real world context as the concepts of perimeter, circumference, radius, dimension, area, and volume are illustrated and explained along with length, width, and depth.  For instance, the movie screen exhibits area and popcorn buckets display volume.  The final page summarizes the main points effectively, fitting each math idea into one of three dimensions. 

Artist Edward Miller’s quirky and exuberant monsters help make this selection entertaining.  They are used both as models and teachers of the math ideas, helping to make math fun and appealing. 

The material is dense which might be a bit overwhelming for younger children, at first.  Repeated exposure and practical applications can easily remedy this issue though.  What I like most about this book is the building of the idea of seeing math concepts in daily life.  A perfect extension is discussing the ideas on field trips, while running errands, or in classroom situations.  Give estimates of sizes.  Figure out the answers.  Discuss which dimension it falls under. 

I recommend Perimeter, Area, and Volume: A Monster Book of Dimensions for ages 8 and up.  This selection is great as an introduction or reinforcement of math vocabulary and application. 

This post is linked up with Math Monday at Love2Learn2Day.

Disclaimer: As per FTC guidelines, I received a copy of each of the aforementioned books from the Holiday House Publishers in exchange for my honest review. I received no monetary compensation. All opinions expressed here are mine and mine alone.

More Math Trade Books for Home or Classroom Learning

Greg Tang Math Series (ages 3-13) by Greg Tang

As I went through several books in this series with my 9 year old, I observed that he was engaged and enthusiastic.  The illustrations are vibrant and interactive.  Ideally, these books could be used as a warm up before a math lesson or as enrichment at home or school.  My son and I just cuddled up together and went through them.  He was thrilled each time he solved a riddle successfully (and almost always before I could).  Because the pictures are essential, these may be harder to modify to a whole class setting unless the pictures could be viewed through an overhead.  They could be used for small group activities though.  This series would be a wonderful addition to a classroom or home library for independent reading. 

Math Fables.  Highlighting the numbers 1 to 10, there are short, rhyming poetic verses focused on counting as well as behaviors such as cooperation, friendship, courage, and appreciation.  Animal and insects are used in the illustrations.  Each number is shown in multiple ways to build up the concept of adding.  For instance, for the number 8 there are 5 groupings and short poems to show that 5+3, 4+4, 7+1, 6+2, and 8+0 all equal 8.  The same format is followed for the other numbers using the proper addends.  There is also a Math Fables Too.

The Best of Times.  Using simple rhymes, strategies for multiplying any number with zero through 10 are provided.  This book introduces techniques for how to multiply bigger numbers quickly.  Also, the connections of multiplication, addition, and division are illustrated.  For instance, when multiplying a number by 5, it is suggested to round 5 to 10 and, then, cut it in half.  So if you have to solve 24 x 5, you could instead multiply 24 x 10 = 240/2 = 120.  Another example shows how multiples of 8 are doubles three times.  So 6 x 8 would be:  6 + 6 = 12   12+12 =24  24+24= 48.  Similar strategies are given for each number 1-10. 

Math Potatoes: Mind-stretching Brain Food & The Grapes of Math.  My son was most engaged in this problem solving rhymes and pictures.  Each two-paged layout includes an amusing poem in rhyming couplets and a corresponding picture.  In the poem, there is a clue for how to count the items the most efficiently by grouping them and multiplying or adding.  My son was challenged by these, but he had a great amount of success which was confidence building for him. There is an answer key in the back in case you get stumped. 

                  Math Start Series (ages 3-9) by Stuart J. Murphy

The Math Start Series is broken up into three levels, each with about 20 titles.  At the author’s website, books can easily be identified based on level and skill.  I reviewed two books in this series The Sundae Scoop and Let’s Fly a Kite.  The Sundae Scoop is a story centered on combinations.  There are aspects of addition and subbtraction as well.  In Let’s Fly a Kit, symmetry is explored through several real-life scenarios.  The storytelling is just a means to an end.  The real benefit for children is to see that math is relevant in everyday situations.  Since these are not stories you will likely read over and over (unless you are a classroom teacher), I’d suggest using the library to utilize these books.  I found that a large portion of this series was readily available at my local branch. 

How High Can a Dinosaur Count?  (ages 7-9 ) by Valorie Fisher

This selection is not a part of a series, but I feel it is worthwhile to mention.  Each two page spread has a problem solving riddle and a picture.  Using one or more mathematical operations, students can work out the riddles (usually in their heads).  In the back of the book, there are additional questions for each picture that can be utilized to practice thinking skills.  This book is ideal for a child on a second to third grade math level. 

Math: Graphing Picture Books and Activities

Books can be used for just about everything---including math!  The focus today is on books about graphing.  These graph books can be used to introduce or reinforce the concept, as a spring board to create your own lesson plans on graphs, or to coincide with lessons on graphs in a math textbook.  Check out these great titles at the library or at the bookstore!  Also included is a handout of Graphing Activities, ideas, lesson plans, and websites.

Graphing (ages 5-8) by Penny Dowdy

Miguel surveys shoppers and observes their buying habits in his family- owned garden center.  He uses the data to create a picture graph, a bar graph, and a Venn diagram.  This book is also interactive by prompting students to consider how they can apply these concepts to their lives and by asking questions about the data Miguel collects.   Vocabulary terms are also introduced, such as axis, data, label, and survey.   Vibrant, full color photographs and pictures accompany the text. 

Making Graphs Series (ages 4-8) by Vijaya Khisty Bodach 

There are four fantastic, bright books in this series: Pie Graphs, Pictographs, Bar Graphs, and Tally Charts.   The text is simple and direct.  Each book uses real world scenarios to teach about the various types of graphs.  For instance in Pie Graphs, they identify favorite types of pizza while in Bar Graphs, they diagram their favorite colors.  Each book includes large, brilliant photographs of children happily interacting with the data and creating graphs.  These books are a great way to get kids to think about what type of data they could collect and to consider the best way to display it (i.e. which type of graph). 

The Great Graph Contest (ages 5-8) by Loreen Leedy 

Two amphibian friends (a frog and a lizard) hold a contest to see who can make the best graphs.  Using adorable animals interacting, children are exposed to quantity graphs, circle graphs, bar graphs, and Venn diagrams. There are creative graphics, dialogue boxes, and fun pictures to illustrate the two friends compiling data and creating various types of graphs.  The illustrations are an imaginative combination of real photographs and cartoon pictures.  This book is the busiest (visually) of the four highlighted, but the examples are clear, humorous, and engaging.  

Graphs (ages 5-9) by Bonnie Bader

Gary has to go to a family reunion on a Saturday morning.  In order to pass the time more quickly and to complete his homework, he creates graphs based on his family’s preferences and appearances.  For instance, he uses a bar graph to show food preferences, a line graph to show temperature changes, and a pie graph to illustrate hair colors. When it is time to go, Gary has all the kids involved and excited about making graphs.  This book includes lots of narrative text that can be read by an adult or by readers who are independently reading short sentences and simple dialogue as well as comprehending basic plots.  It is a stage 2 book in the All Aboard Reading series. 

Also Check Out  

Great Graphs and Sensational Statistics: Games and Activities that Make Math Easy and Fun by Lynette Long.  It is packed full of directions and activities for all types of graphs.  The activities can be easily implimented at home or at school.   This book is geared for ages 8-12, but with adult help or minor modifications, it can be used for younger grades as well.  It will inspire you and get your creativity flowing!