School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-This rhyming tale of a putrid-smelling pooch features bright, energetic pictures that are sure to tickle youngsters' funny bones. Bill loves rolling around in all manner of stinky debris and has thus far managed to escape his family's efforts to bathe him. Enter Great Aunt Bleach, who visits while Bill's owners are out and scrubs the house clean before spotting the dog. She makes it her mission to capture him and wrestle him into a perfumed bath. The family returns to find a shocked but sweet-smelling pet and an aunt who ends up decidedly less antiseptic than when she started. The artwork effectively uses white backgrounds to highlight the humorously depicted characters and keep the focus on the zany action. This book is not quite as punny as Dav Pilkey's Dog Breath!: The Horrible Trouble with Hally Tosis (Scholastic, 1994) or as offensive as William Kotzwinkle's Walter, the Farting Dog (Frog, 2001). Gene Zion's Harry the Dirty Dog (HarperCollins, 1956) remains the classic dog-avoiding-a-bath story; although Postgate's hyperactive update is not as enchanting, kids will still appreciate Smelly Bill's antics.-Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association, CT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Any kid who assiduously avoids bathtime will find a kindred spirit in Postgate's (The Richest Crocodile in the World) funny, fetid canine hero. Although Bill's human family does their best to get the pooch into the sink, "every time he'd get away/ And live to stink another day." But Bill meets his match when Great Aunt Bleach arrives to dog-sit. "Bill, you will not get away!" Bleach decrees when the pooch secrets himself in what he thinks is the ultimate, take-no-prisoners hiding place. "And, like a great, plump bird of prey,/ She swooped down to the compost bin./ And landed right on top of him!" Postgate's watercolor-and-ink cartoons pull out all the stops, providing the perfect complement to his rollicking verse. Bleach, who sports a pink beehive, harlequin glasses and polka-dot bloomers (the last revealed when she makes a Tarzan-like swing into the compost pile), is the very picture of a comically obsessed foil. Fans of all things grimy and gross will likely find themselves in fits of giggles. Ages 3-up. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Always evading his family at bath time, Bill the smelly dog meets his match in queen-of-clean Great Aunt Bleach, who tackles him in the compost bin. Though she succeeds in bathing him, she emerges as smelly as Bill once was. Despite a few awkward rhymes, the energetically metered text is well matched to boisterous cartoonlike watercolor and ink illustrations. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Bill is a wily, scraggly, snaggle-toothed mongrel who absolutely loves icky smells. He adores perfuming himself by immersion in all manner of garbage and gunk. After catching a whiff of his reek, his family is fond of telling him, "You stink!" They try myriad ways to get him clean, but Bill is like Houdini when it comes to escape. Until, that is, the day Great Aunt Bleach arrives. She loves all things clean and with a resounding "Tally-ho," she scrubs the house "from tip to toe." When she becomes aware of the odoriferous canine, she makes it her personal duty to eliminate the nasty smell. "Bleach twittered, 'Come on doggie-woo / It's bathie-wathie time for you!' " She lures and wrangles, but the beast gives her the slip over and over again. After great feats and amazing antics, Bleach prevails. Or is it she who gets the short end of the stick? The illustrations are robust with squiggly characters and awash in watercolors. Reminiscent of Mrs. Wishy-Washy, but with far more delightful rhymes, this is truly tail-wagging fun. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
