Who Needs a Bath

Reviewed by: Jill O'Connor - North Yarmouth Academy, Yarmouth, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 11, 2016

Review

The second book by Mack starring Bear and Skunk (Who Wants a Hug? is the first), this title doesn't have the same punch. Once again, cheery Bear wants to do something nice for Skunk, this time instead of trying to hug him, he wants to throw him a surprise birthday party. But Skunk smells bad so Bear would like to convince Skunk to take a bath before the party. This idea is much with full resistance by the stinky skunk, who manipulates every attempt by Bear to get Skunk to wash with cackling derision and ends with Bear in the pond each time. Finally, Bear blurts out that no one will come to the party of a smelly fellow, letting out the secret. Luckily, it is overheard by the other animals who decide that a pool party in the pond is the best idea. This leads Skunk to enter the pond in grand, clumsy style - with a boing, an oof, a swoop, a yikes, and a big SPLASH that he declares, "Awesome!". While the spirit of the story is good, Skunk just comes off a mean guy who pushes his friend to almost hurt himself and then laughs at him. Why can't Skunks friends accept that he is smelly? The book almost works, but since the playfulness can come off cruel, I can't endorse putting this book into a collection.

Overall Book Score: fair