The Stinky Cheese Man by: Jon Scieszka

Genre: Picture Book

Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Copyright Date: 1992

Page Numbers: 56

Reading Level: 4-8

Summary:

There was a very old couple and they were lonely. So, one day the little old lady decided to make a man out of stinky cheese. She gave him bacon as a mouth and olives as eyes and she put him in the oven to bake. When he was done he popped out of the oven and the couple was appauled at the smell. He had a phrase that he said which was, "Run, run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the stinky cheese man." He said that, and then ran out the door. They did not want to follow him. He came across a cow and chanted his phrase but the cow didn't want to follow him either. The stinky cheese man ran into a little girl and boy playing outside of their school. They smelled him and were totally grossed out. He told them all the people that he ran from and chanted his phrase to them, but they ran away from him into the school so that their teacher wouldn't catch them and make them eat him. Then, the stinky cheese man came upon a river with no bridge. He didn't know how to cross. A sly fox came up and told him to hop on his bacj and he would take him across to the other side. The stinky cheese man did but halfway across the river, the fox caught his scent and started gaging and he knocked the stinky cheese man into the water, and the SCM fell apart.

Who would benefit from reading this book/ Who would I recommend this book to?

This is primarily a humor book. It does a good job retelling a familiar tell in a whole to context. I Would recommend this to anyone who wants to laugh.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?

I don't want my kids to ever learn this phrase, because Ican totally see kids loving to say it while running fromtheir parents.

My reaction:

I think it is gross and refreshingly original. I love the idea of changing the characters or the theme of a book. Good idea!