LOVE STINKS

Love stinks when you’re the smelliest mutt in town and you’ve fallen for pristine, purebred poodle Peachy Snugglekins, who happens to be owned by your nemesis, Great Aunt Bleach! That’s exactly what happens to our hero in this companion to Smelly Bill (2007). Neither Peach nor Bleach will have anything to do with Bill, but he’ll do anything to win them over—including begging for a soapy scrub. At the town dog parade poor Bill can’t catch a break; he's just ridiculed for not being a show dog. Suddenly Vesuvius the vicious hound erupts onto the scene and chases poor Peach into a boggy swamp. No one dares jump in to save the pooch—except for Bill, who has never minded getting a little dirt under his paws. There’s no better way to win over a damsel (and her immaculate mistress) than to rescue her from distress. Postgate’s colorful and appropriately messy watercolor-and-ink cartoons illustrate the story's humor and heart, both of which it contains in plenty. Bill is an endearing pup any poodle would be lucky to have. (Picture book. 4-8)