The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales consists of stories that are inspired by and loosely based on classic fairy tales.  It features a narrator, Jack of Jack and the Beanstalk and follows him through his interaction with other fairy tale characters.  All of the characters and stories have a twist, such as Little Red Running Shorts instead of Little Red Riding Hood, and Chicken Licken instead of Chicken Little.  The settings and points of view vary from story to story, but a common theme of sarcasm and irony ring throughout the different tales.  For example, none of the stories end in the typical happy ending of the classics.

The artwork is very elaborate, and the text itself is incorporated into the story.  The font size and color change depending on which character is speaking, and even the title and dedication pages stay true to the sarcastic nature of the book.  The images fuse together both realistic and abstract images.  The abstract image will be painted, with what appear to be clippings of realistic images surrounding it. 

  C&G refers to this book as Literary Lore, which are described as fracture fairy tales that imitate or change traditional folk tales. (Cullinan & Galda, p. 175).  A child reading this would have to be old enough to understand the link between the classic stories and the revised ones.  A young child might not be able to understand the humor of the book, whereas older children and adults find it hilarious.  The book is very entertaining, and would be a lot of fun to read for several different age groups.

Scieszka, Jon, and Lane Smith.  The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales.  1st ed. New York: Viking, 1992.