THE GHOST WITH THE SMELLY OLD UNDERWEAR

The only thing worse than a haunting? A putrid, odiferous undergarment haunting!

The mostly human denizens of Scaryville, representing a range of skin tones, have a ghost problem. Whether they’re at the movies or just trying to sit down to dinner, the ghost with the smelly old underwear, its knickers clearly in a twist, will pop out of nowhere. Something must be done, so one by one brave volunteers march into the ghost’s castle, always retreating when they encounter the haunting. Fortunately, Old Granny Fanny, a light-skinned, gray-haired woman, appears with a pair of fresh new undies for the unhappy spirit, and things take a turn for the better. Gómez’s cartoonish art has a childlike simplicity to it. Much of the plot’s heavy lifting relies on its young audience finding the repeated phrase smelly old underwear hilarious. For those who do not, the book may be a bit of a slog. Further, the text, translated from Spanish, has its share of clunky moments. For example, the citizens of Scaryville are scared, “Because there lived… // The ghost with the smelly old underwear!!!” Putting aside precisely how a ghost “lives,” disconnections between text and image include visits to “the garbage dump,” which appears to simply be a single trash bin. This tale fails to reach its potential. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Underwear proves underwhelming in this weak attempt at eliciting preschool giggles.