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Summary: Hands down, my favorite book for children
Review: Don't look for these twisted fairy tales to provide moral lessons. But the words and photos will charm your kids and make them laugh. This is easily my favorite book for kids -- and they love it too!
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Summary: I want to hoard this book (IT'S MINE!)
Review: 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???
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Summary: Still is One of My Favorites......Even Today!!!
Review: Hey, I may be in college, but this was a book I read all the time when I was little. I'm currently taking Children's Lit, which requires me reading 70 children's books. I found this one burried in my room, forgetting that I still owned it. I read it, and it still made me laugh. "The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales" is one entertaining book. It's some of your favorite fairy tales.....except told in parody form. They're hillarious. My favorites are "Jack's Bean Problem," "Little Red Running Shorts," "Chicken Licken," and "The Really Ugly Duckling." But they're all very funny. The Little Red Hen will crack you up as she blabbers on about how no one is helping her and how horrible this book is.
The book is by Jon Scieszka and is illustrated by Lane Smith. It doesn't matter how old you are, this is one of the funniest children's book I have ever read. Fun for all ages. Great writing and pictures. Have a look whenever you can. I'm sure you will not regret it.
Rating: 
Summary: would never want to read again
Review: I cannot believe all the good reviews for this book. I got this book out of a recommendation from another book of children's reading. My 6 year old and now-12 year old were not impressed.
The book makes stupid spin-offs from the classic fairy tales. I will stick with the originals.
Rating:
Summary: The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
Review: I first discovered "The Stinky Cheese Man" at the age of 10. I was in a children's museum and found the book laying around somewhere. I flipped through it and fell in love with the illustrations. They were different from other kids' books and looked slightly familiar (Lane Smith does the cover art for Roald Dahl's "James and the Giant Peach). And the stories were hilarious! I didn't feel bad that I was this 10 year old reading stories like "Jack's Bean Problem" or "Cinderrumpelstiltskin (or the Girl who Really Blew It)". I grew up knowing the real stories and here was this book that actually MADE FUN OF THEM and had sorta weird pictures. It was like a morbid a 10 year old could get. These weren't just regular fairy tales to me. They were what would have REALLY happened if fairy tales happened in the "real world". Twelve years later, as a full grown adult, I still have this book. As I got older, I gave away virtually all my children's books, but this one I couldn't part with. If I ever have kids one day, I'll be so excited to share "The Stinky Cheese Man" with them.
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Summary: Cow Patty!
Review: LOVE this book! About half the humor is for grown-ups, but don't be afraid to try it out with a kid around the 1st grade level. My son and I laugh ourselves silly whenever we read the book. The art is great, and I love the hidden story on the inside of the dust jacket. This is an oddly put together book (that's part of the hook), so it can be challenging to read the first couple of times, but it's certainly worth the effort.
Rating:
Summary: Cow Patty!
Review: LOVE this book! About half the humor is for grown-ups, but don't be afraid to try it out with a kid around the 1st grade level. My son and I laugh ourselves silly whenever we read the book. The art is great, and I love the hidden story on the inside of the dust jacket. This is an oddly put together book (that's part of the hook), so it can be challenging to read the first couple of times, but it's certainly worth the effort.
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Summary: Run run as fast as you can...
Review: Making use of every bookflap, endpaper, table of contents, flyleaf, and ISBN box, Jon Scieszka (go on...pronounce it) and Lane Smith teamed up to bring us the picture book that gives kids a lot more credit than most. Many adults will sit their little ones down with the same boring fairy tales with the same boring fairy tale lessons. Kids like fairy tales, no question, but kids also love the subversive. So if you hand them a book like, "The Stinky Cheese Man", that undermines everything fairy tales stand for, the children will fall on their knees in praise. The book is a madcap collection of dismembered tales and stories. Didn't much care for the ending of the original "Ugly Duckling"? Well here's your chance to see the real (and realistic) finale to the tale. Think "Little Red Riding Hood" could be pepped up a bit by calling it, "Little Red Running Shorts"? Go wild. Scieszka is one of those rare authors that know exactly how to get little kids in stitches without resorting to the usual scatological humor and innuendo. This book is one wild ride. Characters frequently break through the fourth wall to confront the reader directly. There's a mixing and melding to the book, sometimes ending with the untimely demise of boring or annoying characters. I think it is safe to say that prior to reading this story, I had never had the pleasure of watching Foxy Loxy get pummeled by a book's Table of Contents. So thank you, Mr. Scieszka. But thanking Scieszka without tipping one's hat to Lane Smith is like feeding bananas to buffalos. It just doesn't make sense. Smith is every bit up to the task of matching Scieszka feather to feather and foul to foul on this intrepid fairy tale adventure. Characters appearing in this book look like nothing so much as a nightmare of texts, fabrics, and shapes. Lane has always reminded me of graphic novelist Dave McKean (of "The Wolves in the Walls" fame), but with a few more childlike sensibilities. These pictures are meant to disturb, but not scare. Rather than finding Lane's grotesqueries fierce, children are endlessly amused by them. And to be frank, so am I. They're great. This book, is great. And the experience of reading it is nothing but a fan-freakin'-tastic experience.
Rating:
Summary: Complete waste of breath
Review: My five year old, who avidly listens to me read him chapters of Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, completely zoned out when I attempted to read these stupid stories. He was bored and uninterested in every one, as was I. The book is written with a smug self-congratulatory undertone, but how this trash got an Honor medal beats me.
Rating:
Summary: great kids book for adults to read aloud!
Review: My son loved this book and I read it aloud to him often. We laughed ourselves silly every time too! Buy this book and read it to your kids! A collection of classic tales like no other!
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