SOLVED. Scratch and Sniff Children's Picture Book Mystery (circa 1971). [s]

[Anne]

Years ago, my mother bought a Scratch and Sniff picture book for me. This had to be around 1971 -- because the first Scratch and Sniff book was published in 1971. I remember seeing it in the department store and thinking it was the coolest thing ever, so my mother bought it as a Christmas present.

I remember that the plot involved several talking animals, and I'm pretty sure that there was a dog involved -- as the main character. The mystery also involved a missing pie. There might have been a holiday theme (Christmas).

There was a Little Monster Scratch and Sniff mystery, but I am pretty sure that was published later.

I searched Abebooks Advanced, but I couldn't find anything that looked like this one. (I did learn that there are some amazing -- and terrifying! -- Scratch and Sniff books out there!)

[Capn]

I found two pie-based mysteries from around that time, but neither suggest they are scratch & sniff:

The Case of the Hungry Stranger
"Who ate Mrs. Meech's blueberry pie? Mrs. Meech calls on private eyes Wizard, Skinny, Tubby, and Snitch to help her find out!"


Great Pie Robbery
"Meet super-sleuths Sam Cat and Dudley Pig: they're after the bad guys who stole yummy pies from Ma Dog's bakery! But when the robbers run into a restaurant where ALL the diners have cherry pie-covered faces, how will Sam and Dudley catch their thieves? With a squinch and a crash and a great big cruuuunch, the bumbling detectives cook up deliciously comic fun!"



Two at least to rule out by plot/content, anyway.

Can you remember what sort of pie it was? :) Cherry? Pumpkin? Blueberry? Or Mince(meat), because Christmas? ("Tart" or definitely "pie"?)

EDIT: I've started a List for "Scratch & Sniff" books: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1... , just fyi for users

[Capn]

The Sweet Smell of Christmas


1970 scratch & sniff, apparently! "Six treated strips, disguised as part of an illustration, give off odors enabling the reader to smell the same Christmas smells as Little Bear." (1970 according to WorldCat and OpenLibrary)

The 1997 edition has this synopsis: ""Little Bear delights in the many wonderful smells of Christmas. From the hot apple pie that his mother is baking to the pine branches on the Christmas tree to his candy canes and hot chocolate, Little Bear celebrates the holiday season with six scratch and sniff scents"

You can flip through the images on OpenLibrary: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL41339...

It's so old, they don't use the "scratch and sniff" terminology! XD Apple Pie is scent #1, then a Pine Tree, a Candy Cane, a Gingerbread Boy, Hot Chocolate, and a Christmas Orange in his stocking after Santa visits. No missing pie, though. :S

[Anne]

Thank you! That list is amazing!

And after looking for one of the books on the list (Shaggy Finds His Collar) and looking at it on Etsy, I found the book listed as a similar item -- Detective Arthur on the Scent!

Except... It was a birthday cake. *facepalm*

It looks like Etsy has become a new source for searching for obscure vintage books. That one didn't come up on Abebooks.

[Capn]

Oh well done! :D

The Children's Bookshop (Hay on Wye) also has a lovely catalogue to browse, and loads of theirs aren't even cross-linked to BookFinder.com (which gets all of Abe/alibris/Amazon/Biblio/eBay, etc.) :) Dangerous territory, though... spend a lot there. ;)