Author: Jon Scieszka
Title: The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales
Illustrator: Lane Smith
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Year: 1992
Genre: Caldecott
Format: Softcover
Reading Level: Assisted, emergent reader
Interest level: Pre-k, early and late elementary
Topics: fairy tales, stinky cheese man, Jack
Summary: This book is a collection of fairy tales with a "stupid" twist to them. It starts with an argument between Jack and Little Red Hen who is looking for someone to help her plant her wheat seeds. It continues with "Chicken Licken" having the table of contents fall on her head. It then tells the story of the princess and the bowling ball and then the really ugly duckling who only grew up to be super ugly, not a swan. It tells the stories of the frog prince, little red riding hood, Jack and the beanstalk, Cinderella, the tortoise and the hare, and instead of the gingerbread man, the stinky cheese man. Each story has a change to it that makes it a fairly stupid tale.
Extension Activity: Have the kids pick a fairy tale and have them change it into a "fairly stupid tale." Have them write down the differences between the fairly stupid tale and the actually fairy tale its retelling.
