Carl's Nose by Karen Lee Schmidt Preschool-2nd grade 40 pages Harcourt October 2006 Hardcover     Carl is a home-grown celebrity dog whose claim to fame is his ability to predict bad weather with accuracy and ease. Like clockwork, every time a storm is expected to hit, Carl senses the impending doom and delivers animated and incredibly useful forecasts to the townspeople who gather to hear his predictions. Unfortunately, as the seasons change and sunny days replace damaging storms, Carl loses his uncanny ability, realizing his nose can only predict danger and not the delight of a warm sunny day. When Carl ponders the limits of his talents, he lapses into a deep depression. His condition continues to worsen until one day, out of nowhere, a strong scent compells him to emerge from his despair. Carl leaps to his feet and follows his keen sniffer deep into the forest where he rescues Tiny Norman, who has gotten lost in the woods. Once again, Carl’s nose saves the town from an impending disaster, and Carl realizes his contributions can continue year ‘round. The story is a cute one, though it is really only the illustrations that set this book apart. Just the drawings of Carl’s nose, intentionally drawn out of proportion to rest of Carl’s body, make this book one to savor and read.   web reviews   Lori West/2007 for curled up with a good kid's book   For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews, visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)