Nog and the land of noses by Bruce Whatley

Scholastic, 2011. ISBN 978 1 74169 8091.
(Ages 6+) Picture book. Recommended. What an absolute delight to read this fine book about difference. Whatley infuses his noses with amazing qualities, readers will have a great time differentiating each nose and the qualities each has as they read the book again and again. In a land where everyone's nose has a purpose, or did something useful, Nog's did not. His just is. There are fat noses and thin noses, noses that go up and some that go down, and the delightful illustrations show the reader exactly what each nose does. Nog is despondent, his does nothing. His grandmother always said the Nog had a nose for trouble, but Nog could not see the value in this, until one day, trouble comes to the community and Nog smells it before anyone else. So a tale of sadness becomes one where Nog finds that his nose, like everyone else's, has a definite purpose.
Along the way, children will love the idioms used, nose for trouble, catching a cold in the nose, picking nose or a running nose. The illustrations show what the nose can do, but the words are ones the class can laugh over as they see the difference between the words and the illustrations or the accepted meaning of those words.
Fran Knight