The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales is the ultimate in fractured fairy tales. Not only do the characters create their own stories, they also design the structure of the book itself. Classic fairy tales are deconstructed and rewritten with different but recognizable names, such as The Princess and the Bowling Ball, The Really Ugly Duckling, The Tortoise and the Hair and Chicken Licken. These stories and their characters intersect and create a mish-mash of narratives. Scieszka also mocks the conventions of books in general; the title page, dedication, and even the public information page have all been deconstructed. For example, Scieszka sneaks in the line “Anyone caught telling these fairly stupid tales will be visited, in person, by the Stinky Cheese Man” on the publication data page.
This book made fun of fairy tales. People who like dark humour might like this book.
I did not like Cinderella in this book since I love the original.
However, The Tortoise and The Hair was really funny :D
I did not know the original version of the stinky cheese.
Ok book, 3 stars
There's a certain nihilism to the humor here that speaks to my Millennial soul.
