Smells Like Dog: I had recently just read this book called Smells Like Dog. Breakfast with the Puddings-Homer Pudding is one of the first and the main characters. Homer is 12 years old.Homer lives on a farm,always has to do chores.He never gets to do what normal kids do.Like read a book,go swimming, hang with friends,things like that.When he does have free time, Homer wants to be a treasure hunter like his Uncle Drake.Homer studies maps, every second he gets.Also, the Pudding family fights a lot,like any other family.
The Untimely passing of Uncle Drake- The next day,Mr.Pudding(another character) Read an article in the newspaper.Suddenly,a tear started to run down Mr.Puddings face.Homer and Mrs.Pudding(another character)rushed over to see what was the matter. Come to find out that a human like tortoise,had gobbled up his Uncle Drake,and left only his shoes. Homer backed up into a corner,and softly started to ball,and thought why,why,why,why? Mrs.Pudding was trying to comforting him when there was aloud pound at the door.
A Snooty Delivery-Mrs.Pudding opened the door, and she looked at the man,and she saw a really short man in a suit,tie and briefcase.He said"Good morning.My name is Mr.Twaddle, I have a delivery for the pudding family.Are you Mrs.Pudding?" "Yes,what kind of delivery?"Mrs.Pudding asked. Then Mr.Twaddle handed her and envelope and inside that envelope said:Mr and Mrs. Pudding,
we are informing you that a carnivorous beast has gabbled up Mr.Drake Pudding. Then Mr.Twaddel handed Mrs.Pudding Drake's brown loafers. Homer crapped up to the door to see what was going on. Mrs.Pudding asked what are these? Mr.Twaddel responded His priced possession. Mr.Twaddel said if you could just sign the dotted line ,and I'll be on my way.
Droopy Dog-Homer thought to himself"this was Uncle Drake's prize possession?" This is one of the saddest dogs,Homer had ever seen. The Pudding sisters where Gwendolyn and Squeak asked Home "who's dog is that?" Mrs.Pudding said that is Homer's. Gwendolyn said" just cause you have a dog doesn't mean I'll take care of it cause you won't. Homer looked at the back of the dogs collar and it read L.O.S.T. Homer wondered what L.O.S.T. meant.
The Horrid Owl- The new dog was howling REALLY LOUDLY, the dog was keeping the whole Pudding house awake.Gwyendolyn was persistent the Homer would go and shut the dog up so that she and the whole Pudding house could sleep. Homer then got up and slipped into his rubber boot and waled outside and the dog still wouldn't be quiet, so Homer took the dog back to his house, and into Homer's bedroom.
Weird cloud- Homer saw a could in class the looked like an eye ball. Then Homer saw it blink. Homer then got up from his seat and went to the window, to get a closer look and the cloud. The only bad part about that was that Homer did that right in the middle of his sister Gwyendolyn's presentation.
Paint milkshake- Dr.Huck came to the Puddings house, because the dog was eating weird things. The dog had been drinking paint.Also, he had eaten a stick, a beetle and some cherry blossoms. Then they found out that the dog couldn't smell. Unexpected invitation- The Pudding's were having dinner,when they heard the door bell ring. There was a man named Mr.Twaddle. Mr.Twaddle was at the Pudding's hose to deliver a letter to Homer. That letter that Homer received was from the museum of Natural History, and they wanted Homer to come as a VIP, and the not also, said not to bring his parents.
Ajitabh the cloud man-The cloud shape of a man came appearing down.Then the cloud figure spoke and said that it's name was Ajitabh. Ajitabh wanted to know if his Uncle Drake had left Homer anything and what it was. Homer said nothing, Ajitabh got mad and then grabbed Homer, and told Homer that he would be back. Library at midnight- Homer was sneaking out and was going to the library. Carotta asked to come and Homer said "NO". Carotta came any ways but, just snuck in after Homer. Then they started looking for books,the they fell asleep. Then Homer discovered that the Library was on fire, and it burnt down. Mr.Pudding had promised the town of Milkeydale that he would rebuild a new one.
Tomato soup girl-There was a girl that Homer had met that was named Lorelei. Lorelei sells tomato soup. Madame la director, was the director of the museum of Natural History.Madam told homer that Lorelei nor the stuffed squirrel could come. Also, the dog to, then madame finally said that the dog could come. The Pudding kids were all in the room. Homer asked Gwyendolyn if he thought madame liked animals? Gwyendolyn said of corse! madame promised that she would put my stuffed animals on display.Homer had saw earlier duffel with some of Gwyendolyn's stuffed animals.
The Cave of Brilliance-Homer's sisters said "dad's outside!"Madame called police, and He shoved Mr.Pudding and Gwyendolyn into the police car.The Realm of Reptiles- Madame said that Uncle drake steals for them. Homer thought why would Uncle drake steal for this place if for all his life he was trying to give to library's? Then Madame told Homer to give her the coin or she will call the police. Then Madame garbed the leash and said " or you'll never see you're dog again."
Beneath the microscope- Madame yanked the leash and the dog dropped the alligator leg and yelped. Madame yanked harder he yelped even louder.Homer then yelled "STOP, you're hurting him!"Homer took the match box out of his picked and through it at Madame and she let go of the dog. Zelda and Madame were working together. Mr.twaddle was also, working with Madame. Mr.Twaddle told homer to get out, and he said that Madame would stop at nothing. Then Homer thought that she had murdered Uncle Drake. Homer wanted to sneak back into the building to find out why.Homer finally learned what L.O.S.T. meant-Legions,Objects,Secrets. Madame had said the drake had got in the way, that's why she killed him. ( )

Meet Homer Pudding, an ordinary farm boy who's got big dreams - to follow in the footsteps of his famous treasure-hunting uncle. But when Uncle Drake mysteriously disappears, Homer inherits two things: a lazy, droopy dog with no sense of smell, and a mystery. ( )

Delightful and funny with some great characters. Kids will stay with this book. ( )

a mystery with lots of adventure and humor too ( )

I really loved Fortune's Magic Farm. I loved the magic, the characters, the classic-yet-new plot, the quirky details. However, I don't know why, but I just can't bring myself to like any of Selfors' other books. It's very frustrating.

Her latest story, Smells Like Dog, is a wacky, wild adventure involving treasure, mysterious villains, carniverous tortoises, taxidermy-aspiring sisters, and the nature of dreams and duty.

It just didn't work for me. The main character, Homer Pudding, was the most realistic part of the book. He knows he's strange and odd, he knows he doesn't fit in, but he just can't let go of his obsessions and dreams, no matter how unrealistic they are. He finds himself being carried away by events and deals with them the best way he can, even when he makes what seems like an unending series of unfortunate mistakes. But the other characters...I guess the problem comes down to, just too much quirk for me. A few odd characters I can handle, but it seemed like every single person had some weird, outlandish element from Homer's sister Gwen and her obsession with taxidermy to the Snooty brothers impossible names and weird complications. There is some good plotting and nice stylistic turns, but there's just too much quirk for my tastes.

But that's just me. I previously ordered this for my library, mainly because I really liked the description, and it was more or less popular when I took it around on school visits. The cover is eye-popping and kids really seem to like the unending series of quirky elements and the dog aspect. I was worried that it's too long for the sometimes childish silliness, but that doesn't seem to bother my readers.

Source: ARC received from Little & Brown, publication May 2010.
Verdict: Although I didn't personally like this, my library patrons do and I'm glad I purchased it. Hand this one to fans of Selfors' previous books, Roald Dahl readers, and possibly Lemony Snicket fans as well.

ISBN: 0316043982; Published May 2010 by Little, Brown; ARC provided by publisher; Purchased for the library