The Stinky Cheese Man

I recall my teacher in grade school reading this to my class many, many years ago. I haven't thought about this book since then. After reading all the classics to my kid for bedtime, I got bored of what I was reading and wanted something...different. I reached back in my memory and pulled out The Stinky Cheese Man. It was everything I had remembered! The art is wonderful, I love the dark cartoony, with touches of realism pages. The book itself is dark humored, slapstick, stupid and a whole lotta AWESOME! My husband compares the humor to Monty Python (although I disagree, I don't care for M.P. but then again, I am a female) and he loves it too. I'm sure my kid would express his opinion, but he is not yet verbal :) Don't expect to get a moral or feel goody goodness out of this book. That is definitely NOT in this book, which I love. I'm a little tired of everything HAVING to be educational and have a point. Can't SOME things be pure entertainment? I think our kids need a little bit of stupid and a lot of humor in their lives to keep them from being dull. Love this book, picked up another by Jon Scieszka (The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs) and plan on getting more.

First off, what kind of fun-hating monster rates this book one star? Reading comprehension people. If you don't like stupid humour, why on earth would you purchase this? It tells you up front, in the title, that the stories are stupid. You don't buy tickets to a movie expecting to watch a basketball game.

But! FANS OF THE ABSURD, REJOICE! For here we have a tome of award-winning stupidity with illustrations to match. I first came into contact with this book when I was 16 in a math class. A classmate brought it to show to our teacher. The teacher loved it so much he made us stop doing work so he could read it aloud to us. One student laughed so hard she gave herself hiccoughs. LITERALLY. Such is the power of these Fairly Stupid Tales. Those of us who witnessed the reading went on to spread the word and the teacher went on to read the book to subsequent classes. It was not unusual to hear "Who will help me spell 'the wheat'?" or "What is that funky smell?" in the hallways. Soon, I was reliving Jack's Bean Problem for the entertainment of others. It was the best of times, it was the stupidest of times.

Anywho, this book is really great for the eight and up crowd, as they are more developmentally capable of processing parody. But if your younger kids enjoy the Lego movies, they will probably enjoy The Stinky Cheese Man. Have a Spongebob fan? Get that kid a copy of the Stinky Cheese Man! This makes a great stick-extractor for that angsty teenager in your life. Just tell your brooder that this is a treatise on existentialism as interpreted by cubist chickens. If the book doesn't get a laugh, then you can at least find entertainment in their indignance.

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales was a book I remember reading at the library and I found its off-the-wall humor very interesting. It's a book that I've always wanted to have in my son's book collection. I love that it can be read as separate stories as much as a complete work, and that the quirks of the stories are experienced through the genial, if sometimes cranky, fictional author. It's a really fun book.

This is a great story with beautiful illustrations. The storyline is funny for parents and kids alike. My teenage nephew still has the best memories of being read this story. I purchased this as a gift/decor for a friends baby shower and it was a big hit!

GREAT! What other word can possibly come to mind reading The Stinky Cheese Man? I originally bought this book for my niece and nephew, Kayla and Greg. But before I gave it to them I read it myself and I simply could not stop laughing.
The best way to describe this to parents and adults is: it's a combination of Rocky and Bullwinkle (working on two humor levels), Mad Magazine, Mother Goose, and absolute literary anarchy. If you're an adult and have any sense of humor whatsoever you're going to laugh out loud. The best way to describe this to parents is to quote Greg, 10, who, upon being told he'd get this book said: "GREAT! It has those funny stories and those crazy drawings. I love it!!"
How did author Jon Scieszka and illustrator hit on a book that truly appeals to ALL ages? The book is a parody, moving visually and in its text as fast as a guided missle, but never for one millisecond underestimating the intelligence of its kid -- or adult -- readership. My Special 10 Year Anniversary Edition of this book contained a "Long Lost Stupid Fairy Tale" printed under the cover, the Boy Who Cried Cow Patty, a take off of the boy who cried "Wolf." (There is a less kid friendly version of this great story circulating on the internet).
Once you open the book (and I will not give it all away) you are immediately comedically clobbered with the Little Red Hen, who can't wait until the title page is seen to start her story and is upset with the management. Fonts, page layout, are all satirized or exploited for maximum laughs. Any kid who has ever had a fairy tale read to him/her and looked at a typical fairy tale book will get the visual joke immediately. So this book is not only a book they can read but a book that will make them WANT to read MORE...and see that reading can truly be FUN.
But it's the screamingly funny text and outrageously zany illustrations that have made this book a (well-deserved) legend. Even though it contains the alleged Surgeon General's stamp-disclaimer warning that it "has been determined that these tales are fairly stupid and probably dangerous to your health" these nutty stories are anything but dangerous. The bottom line is that they're comedy-parodies that make all ages think, but don't require a degree to get the joke. The book succeeds from its bonus tale printed under its book cover to its final silly page.
Tales include Chicken Licken with its great ending (comedy coach Greg Dean writes that comedy is a "shattered assumption" and that's what we get here and it's FUN); The Princess and the Bowling Ball (take off on the Princess and the Pea); The Really Ugly Duckling (probably a truer version of this tale than has ever appeared before); the Other Frog Prince (the frog wants a kiss...but what is he??); Little Red Running Shorts; Jack's Bean Problem, Cinderumpelstiltskin; the Tortoise and the Hair; and the absolute all time classic The Stinky Cheese Man, a superb satire of the Gingerbread man with a laugh-out-loud ending.
This book SHOULD be titled "The Stinkey Cheese Man and Other Absolutely Hilarious Witty Tales." If you like satire/parody and want your kids (or you) to read an upscale Mad-type take off on fairy tales, this book is for YEW! Now my only problem is: where can I HIDE this book after the kids read it, so I can keep it for myself???