The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
John Scieszka’s books are laugh-out-loud funny, perfect for any reluctant reader to quickly become absorbed in. His The True Story of the Three Little Pigs is a hilarious take on the traditional tale, featuring a poor misunderstood wolf and his version of what happened to the title characters. The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales is even more uproariously funny, with Jack (of “Jack and the Beanstalk”) as the annoyed narrator who has to deal with all of the characters in the book.
The title story is a spoof on “The Gingerbread Man,” which, right off the bat, makes you giggle—a man made from stinky cheese? The man, who sports two olives for eyes and a piece of bacon for a mouth, is the exact opposite of the Gingerbread Man, who is chased by all in the story; because of his horrible stinky cheese scent, nobody wants to chase the poor Stinky Cheese Man! Though the couple who made him were old and lonely, once he’s out of the oven the man declares that he’s not hungry and the woman says, “I’m not really all that lonely.” School children, a cow, and even the sly fox are all sick at the scent of the man, who falls into the river and disintegrates when the fox gags at his scent.
Other stories covered in the book include spoofs on “The Ugly Duckling,” in which the duckling really is just ugly; “The Frog Prince,” in which the frog who kisses the princess declares, “Just kidding!” as he hops away, and “Rumplestiltskin,” in which the maiden tells the little man that she’s not allowed to talk to strangers. “Red Riding Hood,” “The Princess and the Pea,” “The Tortoise and the Hare,” and other tales are also spoofed in similar goofy manners.
Lane Smith’s wild illustrations add to the hilarity that readers are sure to experience. With funky personified animals, goofy looking people, and irony (such as a skunk passing out dead at the odor of the Stinky Cheese Man) on many pages, the illustrations are sure to delight and induce much laughter for children and parents both. And for those of you who turn to The Onion or similar websites for humor these days, I’d recommend picking up a copy of The Stinky Cheese Man to browse through as an alternative someday. You might just surprise yourself and spit your coffee all over the keyboard—or at least save yourself some time instead of watching a tickled kitten for three hours.
