You Smell! And So Does Everything Else

Smell is the Cinderella (or, Cinder-smella) of the senses: it’s often forgotten after sight and hearing. Yet without smell, we wouldn’t be able to taste anything - and our sense of smell does really important things like warning us of danger, or making us buy things in shops! Smell also helps animals and plants reproduce and keeps some animals safe from attack.

You Smell also reveals all manner of smelly surprises: did you know that some people sweat in colour? That the job of Odour Judge actually exists - someone who sniffs people’s underarms to see if deodorant is working? Or that one desperate mum invented a fragrant oil-based spray to stop her husband and sons from stinking up their bathroom every day - and has now sold millions of bottles of  'poo-pourri'?

This brilliant and bright book is full of fun facts and silly puns on the subject of smell, covering everything from how the olfactory system works to what people in the past used to do about bad smells, and a tour of the smelliest places on Earth. Gamlen’s illustration is full of energy, and the text is pitched just right at that middle primary age where kids are fascinated by poo, farts and yucky things.