The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith

Image

Figure 1. The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales book cover (2019).

Evaluation of Book

The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith provides a morbid remix and mashup for a variety of famous fairytales and children’s stories like The Ugly Duckling and Cinderella. Each story gives a nonsensical twist that makes no sense what so ever which is what makes it all so weird. One example, the hen from the story of The Little Red Hen keeps popping up starting with the endpaper at the front, a random page in the middle, and then again at the end. She mostly tells her story before coming to a very untimely demise due to the giant in “Jack’s Bean Problem,” “Giant Story,” and “Jack’s Story,” eating her in a sandwich made from the bread she baked. It is all very odd, you will need to read it to know what I mean.

Because this book contains a collection of stories, different stories contained different types of language. Some use music in language like the patterns and sounds of words in “Chicken Licken.” However, others use figurative language like in the “The Stinky Cheese Man” where imagery allows the reader to truly grasp the grotesque smell of the Stinky Cheese Man. But each story stands out because of the types of language styles used to tell it.

Lane Smith’s illustrations reinforce the text, making it darker and more surreal. One example presents itself in “The Princess and the Boling Ball.” The princess, looking like a gray ghoul with yarn for hair, attempts to sleep while laying on top of a stack of mix-matched mattresses that are teetering on top of a huge bowling ball. Random round objects on the floor cast shadows, providing perspective of the true size of the bowling ball. This composition added to the dark reds and blacks of the background give the whole picture a morbid look. However, the picture also reinforces the story of how the princess easily felt the “pea” under the mattresses. Also, in “The Stinky Cheese Man,” the pictures add to the story, showing the extreme smell by having flowers wilt and a skunk pass out from the it. It all compliments each other beautifully.

Even the bookmaking and print size reinforces the oddness of everything. First, the back of the book cover shows Little Red Hen trying to figure out the ISBN and why anyone would want to buy the book. And then the endpaper starts with a story by Little Red Hen, as mentioned above. Next, the title page names itself while the table of contents are forgotten and end up killing off everyone in the “Chicken Licken” story on page nine. Also, the print size constantly changes from gigantor to teeny-tiny, reinforcing the absurdity of the stories. The hodgepodge of it all makes the collection of stories work, though they mostly come off as rude versions of the originals.

Response

While reading The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales, a part of me did relate to the stories. I remembered the original versions of each story and the artwork for them in the versions I read as a child. And while I can see the validity of using this book for teaching children the parts of a book and where they should go along with why uniform font works better, I could not get into most of the stories. The text openly clashes with my view of the world because I prefer stories where people are kind or learn from their mistakes. Most of the stories in this book just focus on the negative or have no point like in “The Really Ugly Duckling” where the crazed looking duck stays that way. Admittedly, I did not enjoy the majority of the collection of texts. However, I did enjoy looking at the art and picking out the details and figuring out how the pictures related to the stories. And from that piece of enjoyment, I am glad that my path crossed this piece of work.

Conclusion

If you like wonky, wacky stories and jokes that often make sense to only a few people on earth, then The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith is for you. It will help you laugh and maybe even make you cry at how bad the stories are. And I have faith a certain type of reader will love this book. Out of four stars, I give this book two.

Citation

Scieszka, J. & Smith, L. (1992). The Stinky Cheese Man and other fairly stupid tales. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.

Willis, C. (2019). The Stinky Cheese Man and other fairly stupid tales book cover (photo). Retrieved March 15, 2019 from https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gLPvvjnKq4QhwojRdeGxohmGdffEbIMt/view?usp=sharing