is big and smelly, and he never washes! He is determined to stay smelly until, one day he has an itch he cannot reach to scratch. Luckily for him, a big fluffy bear comes along and offers to scratch his back. But first she wants him to take a bath! Will Big Fluffy Bear get her way? Will Big Smelly Bear get his back scratched? Find out in this warm and cozy, sweet-smelling tale of friend¬ ship and fun!
Read aloud, share aloud- Big Smelly Bear! For Vincent and Ian B.T.
First American edition published in 2007
by Boxer Books Limited.
Distributed in the United States and Canada by
Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016-8810
The rights of Britta Teckentrup to be identified as the author
and illustrator of this work have been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.
ISBN-13: 978-1-905417-37-7 ISBN-10: 1-905417-37-3
1 3 579 10 8642
Printed in China Britta Teckentrup
Boxer Books
Charlestown Branch Library
179 Mam Street Charlestown, MA 02129-3208 TW
Big Smelly Bear never washed.
\
Big Smelly Bear never brushed.
Big Smelly Bear never took a bath. Big Smelly Bear was followed by a big smelly stink wherever he went. Flies buzzed all around him. „ But they were the only ones that ever came close. V */
Y tdy'.ii When the animals in the forest got a whiff of Big Smelly Bear, they ran away as quickly as they could.
None of this seemed to bother Big Smelly
Bear. But sometimes he did think that it would Then, one morning, everything changed.
Big Smelly Bear woke up with the most
terrible itch. He tried to scratch his back with his paw... but he couldn't reach. He tried rolling on the ground in the dirt. But that didn't stop the itching either. Big Smelly Bear was itchier and dustier than ever. He tried scratching his back with a tree branch. But that made the itch even itchier
L He tried rubbing his back against the trunk of an old tree. But that didn't help at all. "1 would scratch your back for you," said a voice from above, "but you are much too smelly." Big Smelly Bear looked up and saw a Big Fluffy Bear sitting in some branches Big Fluffy Bear smiled at Big Smelly Bear. "Why don't you take a bath?" asked Big Fluffy Bear. "Then you wouldn't itch or smell."
Because I don't need a bath
splied Big Smelly Bear. "Yes, you do," said Big Fluffy Bear. "No, I don't!" said Big Smelly Bear. "YES, you do!" growled Big Fluffy Bear. "NO, I DO NOT!" growled Big Smelly Bear back. "YES, YOU DO!" cried Big Fluffy Bear. "NO, I DO NOT!" shouted Big Smelly Bear. I','
WiSmJa.'I^UtKr ^ -i fenSr ^ <^r /
^mmm% . j VM ^IKii »m« /m» Bw»#flv >Ju i ^ if "Yes you do!" shouted Big Fluffy Bear.
''Because you stink!"
Bofh big bears sat quietly for a minute.
Then Big Smelly Bear sighed a big sigh. "Oh, all right!" he said, and he stomped off grumpily down fhe hill fo fhe pond. I When Big Smelly Bear got out of the pond, he shook the water from his big body.
Big Fluffy Bear jumped down from the tree and sniffed. "There," she said, "that's much better. Now you smell all clean."And she scratched his back for him. The itch was gone! Big Smelly Bear sighed. ''Thank you," he said. Then he gave Big Fluffy Bear's back a little scratch, too. "I'm not going to take any more baths," said Big Smelly Bear. Big Fluffy Bear smiled, and the two big bears had a little bear hug. Big Smelly Bear liked Big Fluffy Bear very much. Even though he said he would never bathe again, sometimes, late at night, he would wander down to the big pond.
B □
And can you guess what he was doing?
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
|)ch Library Street ’ j I Chariestowl it 2.9-3208 Britta Teckentrup was born in Hamburg, Germany. She later studied at St. Martin's College of Art and at the Royal College of Art in London. She has written and illustrated numerous books for many international publishers, and Britta's paintings are fre¬ quently exhibited in London galleries. She now lives and works in Berlin, Germany, with her artist husband and their young son.
Boxer Books www.boxerbooks.com Printed in China Meet Big Smelly Bear Big Smelly Bear never washed. Big Smelly Bear never brushed or took a bath. Big Smelly Bear was followed by a big smelly stink wherever he went. Until one day, he met a new friend. Could she persuade Big Smelly Bear to take a bath?
