lisaffire's Full Review: Jon Scieszka - The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fai...
First, I'd like to thank mothermeatloaf for inspiring me to get this book and read it to my son. Oh, I'm sure I would have gotten around to it sooner or later, but his review truly got the ball rolling.
Now.. on to the review! I have to admit, I sought this book out for me and my son, who will be 6 in July. I don't know that he'd have picked it out just by looking at the cover, especially since he can't read independently yet. Now, if he could, I'm SURE he would have picked it straight away, only because the word "stinky" is in the book. What can I say? He's all boy. *sigh*
And thus we began our reading of this most interesting book. Immediately, we are "greeted" by the incessant screechings of the Little Red Hen, going on and on about her wheat and we're met by Jack, the narrator as he tries to get the Hen to stop and tries to get to at LEAST the Title Page (appropriately labeled, mind you) before the stories begin if it weren't for the natterings... the.. yes, I must say it.. the HEN PECKING! Oops.. sorry, anyway, Jack succeeds and we get to the Title Page and even the dedication page and introduction til we reach the first story.
Of course during the first story, "Chicken Licken", it's realized by Jack that there's no Table of Contents and well, let's just say that the story of lil' Chicken Licken proclaiming the sky is falling ends in a most dire and not quite ordinary fashion. *ahem* BUT, we DO get our Table of Contents.
The rest of the book is a journey through very much fractured fairy tales and childhood tales that tickle the adult funny bone and hit the silly goofy place inside a child. With such tales as "The Princess and the Bowling Ball" (with a duh, kind of ending - rightfully so! It's a self proclaimed stupid tale after all) and "Little Red Running Shorts" it's easy to see the original inspiration that gets twisted, like so much sheet metal after a tornado has sped by. The debris that is left though are 10 tales of stupidly funny twisted tales.
"The Really Ugly Duckling" IS! "The Other Frog Prince".. well, he's a frog, so? "Cinderumpelstiltskin" is by far one of the stupidest tales and the only one that my son DIDN'T laugh at. We both agreed it was pretty stupid... exactly Jon Scieszka's point! So regardless... we get it, we get it! It's STILL funny, even when it's not. "The Stinky Cheese Man" by the way, is the last, well, kind of the last, tale in the lineup and is the longest. It's a great retelling of "The Gingerbread Man" and while gingerbread may be tasty to chase, think about chasing after stinky cheese. Exactly the point of the story.
Throughout the tales, there's Jack, with his own story (yes, THAT Jack of Jack and the Beanstalk fame) and trying to keep the peace as narrator, which is a difficult job in such a twisted book, to say the least.
The last bit we're back with the Hen Nattering, Jack and now the Giant.. but don't worry.. the Hen gets what's coming to her.
The illustrations fit the mood and the style of the words almost to a fault. It's kind of scary to think that this MUST be what it's like to be in Scieszka's head and for Lane Smith to nail it on paper, is downright frightening... in a good way of course. Some may find the pictures dark or brooding but they're only a reflection of the words themselves. Cubist elements, a definite 2 dimensional feel and a mixture of styles help add so much to this book. Even the choice of text font and sizes help take this book from ordinarily silly to extraordinarily hysterical.
Okay.. I've prattled on long enough. So, who's this book for? Well, it's in the E section of the library, which is generally scoured by parents looking for books to read to their children. Of course in true ironic form, the book I have in front of me, while it says E on the book's spine, proclaims itself to be a Juvenile non-fiction (398.2) in the defunct, no longer used, circulation card pocket on the back cover. The humor is NOT lost on me. So... never mind the library. I'd say if your child has a grasping for satire, irony and farce then this book will be right up their alley (I'll be daring and suggest ages 6 to 12). If their sense of humor is not that sophisticated, I suggest the parent read it to themselves and enjoy the lavish laugh time.
Schieszka is in a class by himself so it's difficult to say how I'd compare this to other children's books. But as far as style goes (and not comparing it to other books at all), if you're a fan of Monty Python, Mel Brooks movies or other such off the wall, tongue firmly in cheek, even down right stupid humor, this one is for you.
General Juvenile / Children's Fiction - Wonderfully quirky, this book breathes new life into staid children's stories. In these irreverent variations ...More at Barnes and Noble
The author of The True Story of the Three Little Pigs provides a riotous romp through fairy-tale-land that will have readers clutching their sides hap...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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