This odiferous mystery begins with young Elliot waking up in his beloved skeleton pj's to an intrusive smell. Determined to discover its source, Elliot sniffs out possible culprits in his bedroom s hamster, his bird, the remnants of a sandwich, and the area under his bed t none stink. Next, Elliot suspects his father, but Dad's recent shower clears him. The boy continues searching for the olfactory offender, checking his little sister (syrup!), the baby (baby powder!), and the dog (bacon!). Even the garbage can and his grandmother's Gefartzenschnaffel stew come out clean. The fug finally lifts when Elliot's mother forces him to remove his filthy skeleton pj's itting a green cloud of stink d take a bath. Depending on the child reading this, the source of the smell will be obvious early on or a deepening mystery. The cheerful, humorous illustrations (a combination of pencil, ink, watercolor, and gouache), featuring one especially amazing cutaway view of Elliot's house, carry most of the interest here, but readers will have fun following young Elliot as he plays detective.

What is that smell? Elliot can-t figure it out. He literally looks high and low in his house, ruling out his father (having just shaved, -Dad smelled pretty nice-), his diapered baby sister, various pets, Grandma-s weird stew, and the garbage. But readers know the source of the odor, thanks to a remark from his mother a few pages in: -Not one more day in that costume, Elliot!- In a classic kid move, Elliot has apparently refused to take off a much-beloved skeleton outfit (-It glowed in the dark and happened to be an EXACT REPLICA OF HIS SKELETON-), and now he and it are, to put it mildly, ripe. In her picture book debut, Hellman keeps the comic tension going by alternating glimpses of Elliot-s inner detective (-Was it the cat food? Nope.-) with questions that nudge the audience (-What, what, what was that terrible smell?!-). But it-s Henry-s (Herbert-s First Halloween) lovingly observed tour of Elliot-s world that will keep readers turning the pages. The boy may still be little enough to have to toe the parental line, but until that happens, he moves with autonomy and confidence, beholden to nothing but his mission. Ages 4-8. (July)