If geese had graves, Mother Goose would be rolling in hers. The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales retells--and wreaks havoc on--the allegories we all thought we knew by heart. In these irreverent variations on well-known themes, the ugly duckling grows up to be an ugly duck, and the princess who kisses the frog wins only a mouthful of amphibian slime. The Stinky Cheese Man deconstructs not only the tradition of the fairy tale but also the entire notion of a book. Our naughty narrator, Jack, makes a mockery of the title page, the table of contents, and even the endpaper by shuffling, scoffing, and generally paying no mind to structure. Characters slide in and out of tales; Cinderella rebuffs Rumpelstiltskin, and the Giant at the top of the beanstalk snacks on the Little Red Hen. There are no lessons to be learned or morals to take to heart--just good, sarcastic fun that smart-alecks of all ages will love.


From Publishers Weekly
Grade-school irreverence abounds in this compendium of (extremely brief) fractured fairy tales, which might well be subtitled "All Things Gross and Giddy." With a relentless application of the sarcasm that tickled readers of The True Story of the Three Little Pigs , Scieszka and Smith skewer a host of juvenile favorites: Little Red Running Shorts beats the wolf to grandmother's house; the Really Ugly Duckling matures into a Really Ugly Duck; Cinderumpelstiltskin is "a girl who really blew it." Text and art work together for maximum comic impact--varying styles and sizes of type add to the illustrations' chaos, as when Chicken Licken discovers that the Table of Contents, and not the sky, is falling. Smith's art, in fact, expands upon his previous waggery to include increased interplay between characters, and even more of his intricate detail work. The collaborators' hijinks are evident in every aspect of the book, from endpapers to copyright notice. However, the zaniness and deadpan delivery that have distinguished their previous work may strike some as overdone here. This book's tone is often frenzied; its rather specialized humor, delivered with the rapid-fire pacing of a string of one-liners, at times seems almost mean-spirited. Ages 5-up. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Grade 2-6-- Scieszka and Smith, the daring duo responsible for revealing The True Story of the Three Little Pigs (Viking, 1989), return here with nine new exposes, all narrated by the ubiquitous Jack (of Beanstalk fame). Unlike the detailed retelling of the pigs' tale, most of these stories are shortened, one-joke versions that often trade their traditional morals for hilarity. ``The Stinky Cheese Man'' is an odoriferous cousin to the gingerbread boy; when he runs away, nobody wants to run after him. ``The Other Frog Prince'' wheedles a kiss only to reveal that he is just a tricky frog (as the princess wipes the frog slime off her lips); the Little Red Hen wanders frantically in and out of the book squawking about her wheat, her bread, her story, until she is finally (and permanently) squelched by Jack's giant. The broad satire extends even to book design, with a blurb that proclaims ``NEW! IMPROVED! FUNNY! GOOD! BUY! NOW!'' and a skewed table of contents crashing down on Chicken Licken and company several pages after they proclaim that the sky is falling. The illustrations are similar in style and mood to those in the earlier book, with the addition of more abstraction plus collage in some areas. The typeface, text size, and placement varies to become a vital part of the illustrations for some of the tales. Clearly, it is necessary to be familiar with the original folktales to understand the humor of these versions. Those in the know will laugh out loud. --Susan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy, PACopyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
"Parodic humor here runs riot...irrepressibly zany fun!" --Kirkus

* Caldecott Honor Book
* An ABBY Honor Book
* Publishers Weekly Top Selling Kids Books of All Time List
* ALA Notable Children's Book
* New York Times Notable Book of the Year
* New York Times Best Illustrated Books of the Year
* School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
* Booklist Children's Editors' Choice, "Top of the List"
* The Horn Book Fanfare
* Texas Bluebonnet Award
* Parenting's Reading-Magic Award




Card catalog description
Madcap revisions of familiar fairy tales.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Get out the nose plugs, folks, and stuff up your nostrils -- the Stinky Cheese Man is back after ten years! Yep, it's been a decade since that zany duo of Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith created the odious little guy who ended up winning our hearts and garnering a Caldecott Honor, and now he's returned in this snazzy, newly jacketed ten-year anniversary edition.

Looking better than ever, the The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales includes all the fractured fairy tales we love, along with some never-before-seen extras. Among Scieszka's lively stories are "The Really Ugly Duckling," "Cinderumpelstiltskin," and, of course "The Stinky Cheese Man." The tales are still fresh and hysterical, with lots of tongue-in-cheek text adding to the book's forward-thinking design. Smith's kooky artwork remains the perfect complement, too, as deep colors and exaggerated features give the book that extra twisted look. The new jacket, though, is the real bonus for this edition -- the inside reveals "The Boy Who Cried Cow Patty," which was mentioned in the first book but then lost, along with all the numbers that fell off the table of contents. In addition to the Stinky Cheese Man's big, smelly mug on the cover, the Little Red Hen is still busy ranting and clucking about her wheat.

Ten years ago, this had all the bells and whistles of a groundbreaking book, and now there's even more. Children and adults still cheer over Scieszka and Smith's unique take on fairy tales, and with this new edition, old fans and new readers alike can chortle over wacky favorites and steaming cow-patty tales. Great for reading aloud or role playing, this anniversary edition reeks of a fun time. (Matt Warner)

ANNOTATION

Madcap revisions of familiar fairy tales.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Parodic humor here runs riot...irrepressibly zany fun!" --Kirkus

* Caldecott Honor Book
* An ABBY Honor Book
* Publishers Weekly Top Selling Kids Books of All Time List
* ALA Notable Children's Book
* New York Times Notable Book of the Year
* New York Times Best Illustrated Books of the Year
* School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
* Booklist Children's Editors' Choice, "Top of the List"
* The Horn Book Fanfare
* Texas Bluebonnet Award
* Parenting's Reading-Magic Award

SYNOPSIS

Wonderfully quirky, this book breathes new life into staid children's stories. In these irreverent variations on well-known themes, the ugly duckling grows up to be an ugly duck, and the princess who kisses the frog wins only a mouthful of amphibian slime.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Grade-school irreverence abounds in this compendium of (extremely brief) fractured fairy tales, which might well be subtitled ``All Things Gross and Giddy.'' With a relentless application of the sarcasm that tickled readers of The True Story of the Three Little Pigs , Scieszka and Smith skewer a host of juvenile favorites: Little Red Running Shorts beats the wolf to grandmother's house; the Really Ugly Duckling matures into a Really Ugly Duck; Cinderumpelstiltskin is ``a girl who really blew it.'' Text and art work together for maximum comic impact--varying styles and sizes of type add to the illustrations' chaos, as when Chicken Licken discovers that the Table of Contents, and not the sky, is falling. Smith's art, in fact, expands upon his previous waggery to include increased interplay between characters, and even more of his intricate detail work. The collaborators' hijinks are evident in every aspect of the book, from endpapers to copyright notice. However, the zaniness and deadpan delivery that have distinguished their previous work may strike some as overdone here. This book's tone is often frenzied; its rather specialized humor, delivered with the rapid-fire pacing of a string of one-liners, at times seems almost mean-spirited. Ages 5-up. (Oct.)

Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot

A totally irreverent retelling of a number of classic fairy tales including "The Little Red Hen," "The Princess and the Pea," and "The Ugly Duckling." All are accompanied by the equally wacky and outrageous illustrations of Lane Smith. A book that will undoubtedly appeal to those who know the original stories and have a good sense of the absurd.

Children's Literature - Susie Wilde

Scieszka and his comic cohort, Smith, have ignited a resurgence of retellings and brought new vision to fairy tales. The daring duo was distinguished with a Caldecott honor for this collection of irreverent tales. Scieszka refers to this book as "one of the first fairy tales I twisted" and probably their "fairy tale finale." Below Scieszka's patina of humor and playfulness, there is a respect for kids that shapes his work. "I gravitated to fairy tales because it's the genre that kids are in charge of, can take control of, and be in on the joke." His books may appeal to adults, but they primarily are created for, motivated by, and support the vision of kids.

School Library Journal

Gr 2-6-- Scieszka and Smith, the daring duo responsible for revealing The True Story of the Three Little Pigs (Viking, 1989), return here with nine new exposes, all narrated by the ubiquitous Jack (of Beanstalk fame). Unlike the detailed retelling of the pigs' tale, most of these stories are shortened, one-joke versions that often trade their traditional morals for hilarity. ``The Stinky Cheese Man'' is an odoriferous cousin to the gingerbread boy; when he runs away, nobody wants to run after him. ``The Other Frog Prince'' wheedles a kiss only to reveal that he is just a tricky frog (as the princess wipes the frog slime off her lips); the Little Red Hen wanders frantically in and out of the book squawking about her wheat, her bread, her story, until she is finally (and permanently) squelched by Jack's giant. The broad satire extends even to book design, with a blurb that proclaims ``NEW! IMPROVED! FUNNY! GOOD! BUY! NOW!'' and a skewed table of contents crashing down on Chicken Licken and company several pages after they proclaim that the sky is falling. The illustrations are similar in style and mood to those in the earlier book, with the addition of more abstraction plus collage in some areas. The typeface, text size, and placement varies to become a vital part of the illustrations for some of the tales. Clearly, it is necessary to be familiar with the original folktales to understand the humor of these versions. Those in the know will laugh out loud. --Susan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy, PA

School Library Journal