Smelly Louie

Louie is down in the dumps. After a dip in the tub, instead of his characteristic doggy smell, there’s a strong floral aroma about him. Off he goes in search of his very own ‘Special Smell’. On his search through the neighbourhood he encounters a helpful and very whiffy fox who provides a pointer in the right direction but more is needed. The snails direct him to some deliciously pongy bins full of rotting rubbish – a perfectly putrid smell but not his own still. Eventually after a wriggle in the sludge as suggested by the flies, Louie makes his way to the ‘PONGY PONG” and it’s there that his own distinctive canine stench is fully restored. Back home trots Louie happily, past his  ‘VERY’ impressed vulpine friend, into the house and up the stairs. But what is that sound and that un-Louie-like smell that assault his senses. It can’t be, can it? …

Catherine Rayner has an unfailing talent for making every single animal that she paints – large or small – a wonderfully unique character. Here she has, I think, excelled in her portrayal of Louie whose zest for life and pongyness leap off the page. Rayner paints so eloquently one can almost hear Louie’s splash and the explosion of the ducks as they take off in panic from the pond, and touch and smell the malodorous miasma emanating from the canine hero’s filthy tangled coat.