I Love You, Stinky Face

I started reading this book to my daughter the night she was born. At a year old she could recite the book word for word from memory. Now that she's a mother, I wanted to give this book to my Grandson, so they can make the same memories.

One of my favorites children's books.

I bought this book for my 6 year old son, who is an exceptional child. While reading it to him, I felt a lump in my throat that this book was telling him what I couldn't for so many years. He understands now that I always love my Stinky Face, tho he prefers Little Greenie. The "Stinky Face" series is so fabulous, we bought them all. We have had to go back and buy the hardcovers tho as my son wants them read to him over and over. Between this and Where the Wild Things Are, my son knows that he is loved, unconditionally. Wonderful books that fuel the imagination. Buy them all.

Just as Guess How Much I Love You is good for a tear or two, this book is guaranteed to bring out the giggles, at least as far as my kids are concerned. Its message, however, is very serious: parental love is unconditional. The story takes place as a mother is tucking her son into bed. "I love you, my wonderful child," she says. But her son asks, "[W]hat if I were a big, scary ape?. . .what if I were a super smelly skunk?. . .what if I were an alligator with big, sharp teeth that could bite your head off. . .?" Would she love him even then? Not only would she still love him, she assures him, but she would treasure the things that make him unique. If he were an ape, she'd comb his hair and make him a banana birthday cake. If he were a skunk, she would cuddle him and whisper, "I love you, Stinky Face." If he were a meat-eating dinosaur whose claws ripped the sheets every night, she'd feed him lots of meat and mend his sheets every day. Cyd Moore's illustrations are witty and wonderful! Each picture of the boy with his mother gives a clue to what he's going to become next. On one page he's playing on his bed with his covers draped around his shoulders; on the next page he's "a swamp creature with slimy, smelly seaweed hanging from [his] body." On one page he's letting fireflies loose from a jar; on the next page he's a Martian who eats bugs instead of peanut butter. No matter what type of creature he changes into, the boy still wears his orange, green and yellow striped pajamas. Because Ms. Moore uses the colors of the sky just as sunset is turning to dusk -- pink, purple, blue, green -- this book is a perfect bedtime tale.

This is a phenomenal book for children of all ages -- the interaction between the mother and child highlights the depths of a child's imagination and the extent of a parent's unconditional love. I read this to my son's first grade class, and the kids were mesmerized -- and what a great bunch of questions they came up with at the end of the reading. I can't recommend this book highly enough. Out of my children's home library of seven-plus shelves of books, this is easily one of our top three favorites.