Big Smelly Bear

Big Smelly Bear was followed by flies wherever he went, but all the other animals stayed far away. You see, Big Smelly Bear never took a bath. And he never wanted to, until the day he got an unscratchable itch. Children will be amused by the bear's unsuccessful attempts at scratching that itch, and be particularly delighted by the back-and-forth dialogue between Big Smelly Bear and his wiser, cleaner counterpart, Big Fluffy Bear: "...I don't need a bath"/"Yes, you do,"/"No, I don't"/"YES, you do,"/etc.) Parents might get a few more willing bathtimes out of this book, but be prepared to read the story again and again and again.

My three year old daughter and I have read this story countless times and we both still enjoy it. Funny story, neat artwork.....glad I bought it!

This is a great book to read to teach your little one about hygiene or just to read them a bedtime story either way the children will absolutely love it. The illustrations are detailed and cute, and the print is large and easy to read. I really recommend this book. It's GREAT!

This is a very cute story about the virtues of bathing, as seen through the eyes of a bear who has a distinct lack of personal hygiene skills. Just looking at the cover, the comparisons with Eric Carle's style will be inevitable (something that the publishers seem to have intended, considering the layout). The story is simple, but clever. Big Smelly Bear never bathes. The only creatures who want to come near him are flies. The other forest animals all ran to get away from his stink. But when Big Smelly Bear needs a friend to scratch an itch that he can't reach, he might finally have to take that dreaded bath. He may even find that his friendship with Big Fluffy Bear is worth the trouble of an occasional dunking in the river. Kids will giggle over the title and the main character, and the book gives some good positive reinforcement about baths, as well as some lessons in friendship. The illustrations are colorful and fun, and the book is a good length for a quick bedtime story with big legible print for youngsters to follow along.

This is an excellent book which teaches children that others in society will act and think of them differently if they don't clean themselves up, wash their clothes and the like. Illustrates to children the benefits and interaction from their friends (and even the opposite gender but this will be over the head of younger readers) won't happen with poor hygiene as they'll want to keep their distance or avoid you is brilliantly portrayed through the two main characters (bears). Illustrations are more in the style of softer cartoon looking animals than more realistic looking style illustrations other illustrators of animals use, but I think it suits the story well. The basic plot is a bear doesn't really care that it smells and is known as Big Smelly Bear by the other animals. It refuses to bathe in the river and as its smell gets worse and worse its skin becomes itchy. It tries everything to get rid of the itch such as rubbing against a tree and using a stick to reach its back. One day it notices a female bear in a tree. She tells him she is known as Fluffy Bear and he asks her to come down and scratch his itchy back. She tells him she will if he has a bath first which he refuses to even think about. Of course his desire for Fluffy Bear to scratch his back is starting to outweigh his desire to follow his non bathing stance! A good book with a very simple storyline and a bit of repetition between the two main characters which kids of course love but those who are really adults and don't understand that kids read and take in messages from books differently may well find simply annoying. Big Smelly Bear is of course a kids' picture book so if you're just an adult who likes to read books with pictures you may want to choose something a bit more mentally challenging.