The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
Written by Jon Scieszka
Illustrated by Lane Smith
New York, Viking, 1992
9" x 10.75"
Kerlan Collection, Children's Literature Research Collections
University of Minnesota Libraries
American picture-book artists of the Baby Boom generation grew up reading Sendak and Seuss while acquiring media savvy at an early age through steady exposure to television and advertising. The books these artists went on to create are notable for their merry-prankster irreverence and archly sophisticated sense of design. Epitomizing the trend is this spoof of classic fairy tales, and of books themselves as cultural artifacts. "Melting" lines of text, a misplaced title page, and collage mash-ups of standard-issue illustrations typify the winking wit at work-and play-here.