Stinky Cheese Man & Fairly Stupid Tales
Author: Jon Scieszka
Illustrator: Lane Smith
Publisher: Viking, Penguin Books
Date: 1992
Awards: Caldecott Honor (1993)
Ages: 9-12
Topics: picture book, fiction, fairy tales, humor, mixed up, fractured fairy tales
Summary: This is a fun collection of familiar fairy tales. Each story starts as the regular fairy tale we know and love, when suddenly it takes off and gets mixed up usually with another fairy tale. These new, silly revisions are combined with varied letters, capitals, and type to make for an unusual book. The combination of the text and the illustrations make a fun environment for the "fairly stupid tales".
Book Connections
- Stinky Cheese Man & Fairly Stupid Tales from Wikipedia
Topic Connections
Cheese
- Cheese from Wikipedia
- Types of Cheese
Fair Tales
- Fairy Tales from Wikipedia
- Chicken Little from Wikipedia
- The Gingerbread Man from Wikipedia
- Jack and the Beanstalk from Wikipedia
- Little Red Riding Hood from Wikipedia
- The Ugly Duckling from Wikipedia
Learning Connections
- Compare Stories. Compare different retellings of this story. How are they alike and different? How do the illustrations impact the storytelling? Create a chart to show the comparisons.
- Fairy Tales. A fairy tale involves something extraordinary. Does Rapunzel qualify? What do you see that's fact and fiction in the story based on the time period of the Grimm Brothers?
- Fractured Fairy Tales. Many fairy tales are modern or alternative versions. Read some of these and write your own version of the story. Go to Fractured Fairy Tales & Fables with John Scieszka from Scholastic for ideas.
- Fairy Tales. Create a list of real fairy tales. Find the real fairy tales that make the fractured tales in the book. Which do your like better?
- Stinky Cheese. Learn about different kinds of cheese. What kind of cheese do you think the little old woman uses to make her stinky cheese man?
- Unique Style. Lane Smith has a very unique artistic style. You can find examples at his website. Try replicating his style. What are some of the features of this style? What is your style?
- Visualizing Fairy Tales. Explore illustrations of different versions of fairy tales. How are they alike and different?
Teaching Connections
- MASL: Stinky Cheese Man Activity Ideas
- Try lessons related to fractured fairy tales Try folk tales lessons:
Learn More
Do a Thinkfinity search for lessons related to this book.