Peter Rabbit’s Sniffy Adventure by Jane E. Gerver, illustrated by Pat Sutendal, 1984.
Sniffy books, or scratch-and-sniff books, were popular during my early childhood in the 1980s, and they are still being made today. Scratch-and-sniff books are picture books with special patches that release a scent when they’re scratched. Kids like interactive books, so it can be fun for them to scratch a flower or some food in a picture and then smell it. I know from my old books that these scented patches eventually wear out, although I’m amazed that some of them still have a scent more than 30 years after the books were originally made. I had expected that the ones that my brother and I liked and scratched the most would be the ones that would eventually wear out the fasted, but it also depends on the strength of the original scent. The milder, more subtle scents are often more difficult to smell decades later. Scratching a little harder can sometimes help. If you look carefully at the pictures of our old book, you can see where the round scent patches are on the illustrations.
This book is based on The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. It’s meant as a continuation of Peter Rabbit’s adventures.
Peter Rabbit lives with his mother and three sisters. One day, Mrs. Rabbit leaves her children alone while she goes to run some errands, giving them a green pepper to eat while she’s gone.
Then, Peter’s cousin, Benjamin comes by and asks Peter to come with him and visit Mr. McGregor’s garden. Peter is reluctant to go because of the trouble that he got into the last time, but Benjamin finally persuades him to come.
In Mr. McGregor’s garden, the bunnies eat raspberries, get into a sawdust pile, and stop to pick some flowers. Peter’s clothes become more dirty, stained, and torn through their adventures.
Then, Benjamin spots a beehive and suggests that they get some honeycomb to take home. They end up angering the bees, and Peter falls in a stream as they run away.
When he returns home, Peter is a mess, and he apologizes to his mother for going to Mr. McGregor’s, promising not to do it again. His mother gives him a bath and puts him to bed with a cup of mint tea.
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