cover image Meet Stinky Magee

Meet Stinky Magee

Edward Sokol. HarperCollins, $14.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-688-17416-3

Red-headed Stinky, who lives in Puddingtown, goes on a quest with his hobbyhorse Shnoopsie to the secret land of Snaggamumfrey, which serves up the best chocolate ice cream sundae in the world--for free. Unfortunately, the text rarely rises above the flat and obvious; most of the narrative simply describes what the audience can easily glean from looking (""The moon and the sun and the stars twinkled around them""). But Sokol's na f-style illustrations, thickly outlined and rendered in a dense, confection-inspired palette, are good enough to eat, and should prove particularly captivating for the preschool set. In one of the many memorable full-bleed spreads, Stinky and his horse sail through a licorice sky dotted with nonpareil planets; the effect is something like a candy-filled pi ata bursting. Ages 3-8. (Aug.)