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■ Alexander T. Wolf tells The True Story ofthe Three Little Pigs from his jail cell. Hewas framed, of course, because it allstarted with a sneeze….

■ The Frog Prince, Continued begins afterthe “happily ever after” when in fact, the“frog turned prince” and princess are nolonger the blissful couple they started outto be.

■ Only echoes of familiar fairy tales areheard in The Stinky Cheese Man andOther Fairly Stupid Tales. Scieszka playswith point of view and even challengestraditional book layouts. How many bookscome with a warning from the SurgeonGeneral? The reader is cautioned, “it hasbeen determined that these tales arefairly stupid and may be dangerous toyour health.”

■ Squids Will Be Squids: Fresh MoralsBeastly Tales sets its sights on fables,classic short tales that teach morallessons. Scieszka creates fresh fablesand morals—all with humorous visual andtextual twists and turns.

This Guy Reads and Writes Author Jon Scieszka (pronounced SHEH-ska,rhyming with “Fresca”), says that he readseverything from comic books, newspapers,and cereal boxes to poems, myths, legendsand fairy tales. Perhaps it is because he justloves to laugh. Whatever the reason,Scieszka’s books make readers chuckle,giggle, and even “LOL”—laugh out loud.

Scieszka’s writing motto is simple: “Neverunderestimate the intelligence of youraudience.” He believes that young peoplecan be both silly and smart. In fact, silly andsmart may best describe Jon Scieszka. Asproof, just read his books.

Making Reading FunA former teacher, Scieszka decided to takea year off to develop book ideas for youngreaders. Around this time, he happened tomeet a talented illustrator named Lane Smith.Together they created a different way toapproach books, focusing on how books areread and what readers expect from them.

They also targeted readers who may not becomfortable with a traditional approach toliterature. Their goal—to change the substanceand appearance of children’s literature.

Years later, Scieszka became alarmed atstatistics that indicated that boys’ reading ismuch below that of girls. In 2001, Scieszkalaunched a campaign to make boys viewreading differently. “Guys Read” is anInternet-based site/promotion that introducesbooks to young male readers. Scieszka’smessage is clear: “read what you like, whenyou like, whatever that happens to be.”

Twisted Tales, Topics, and TimeWhat happens when a creative boy wholikes to laugh reads Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggsand Ham? Scieszka says that the bookmade him realize “that books can be goofy.”Scieszka’s books fracture folk and fairytales, rework time-honored poems, andreshape subjects such as math, science,and history. For example,

Telling Stories: Jon Scieszka Thursday, March 8, 200711 a.m. – 12 p.m. ETGrades 5-9

When viewing Telling Stories: Jon Scieszka and participating inthis guide’s suggested activities,the following language artsstandards sponsored by theNational Council of Teachers ofEnglish and the InternationalReading Association will beaddressed: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 11.

About the Program

Instructional Activities

Resources

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■ Math Curse and Science Verse take onthe anxiety caused by these subjects.Scieszka restyles the two school subjectsin a clever format.

■ The Time Warp Trio series take friends Joe,Fred and Sam throughout time and acrossthe world in a series of adventures. Theboys meet their own descendents in2095, join the crew of the fearsomepirate Blackbeard in The Not-So-JollyRoger, and sail with Leif Erikson in VikingIt and Liking It. Other historical periodsand people come to life when one of theboys touches the magical Book andfacilitates their time travels.

Meet JonJon Scieszka will talk about his work in adiscussion moderated by Maria Salvadore.Other topics include the importance ofhumor in encouraging young readers, theways literature affects readers, andinfluences on Scieszka’s writing.

Fracture This!Read a familiar folk or fairy tale (e.g.,“The Three Bears” or “The Three Little Pigs”).Rewrite the story from another character’spoint of view. You may change the beginning,ending, or even add another character. Try tomake your version humorous. Then, workingalone or collaborating with a classmate,prepare illustrations for your original story.

Join the ClubImagine yourself as a new member of theTime Warp Trio, making it the Time WarpQuartet. Like the boys did in SummerReading Is Killing Me, open the magicalBook to bring another book to life. Whatwould happen, for example, if the StinkyCheese Man or Alexander T. Wolf suddenlyappeared in your room?

Real Or Not Real?Find out more about the actual events inone of the Time Warp Trio series such assailing with Vikings or the pirate Blackbeard.Compare documented information with thefictionalized versions in Scieszka’s novels.

InternetGuysread.comteacher.scholastic.com/wrItewIt/mff/

fractured_fairy.htm

PrintScieszka, Jon.Frog Prince Continued (illustrated by Steve Johnson). Viking, 1991; Guys Write for Guys Read (edited by Jon Scieszka). Viking, 2005; Math Curse (illustrated by Lane Smith).Viking, 1995; Science Verse (illustrated by Lane Smith).Viking, 2004; Squids Will Be Squids: Fresh Morals,Beastly Tales (illustrated by Lane Smith).Viking, 1991; The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales (illustrated by Lane Smith).Viking, 1992; True Story of the Three Pigs (illustrated by Lane Smith). Viking, 1989; Time Warp Trio Series (published by Viking).including: Not So Jolly Roger (1991); 2095 (1995); Summer Reading Is Killing Me (1998); Viking It and Liking It (2002).