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ahsataN-Natasha t1_j6414dl wrote

I got this book as a birthday gift when I was maybe 7 or 8. I have since passed it on to my littles who absolutely love it. Such a solid book!

Edit: found it and read it to the kids because of this. They loved it❤️

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drak0bsidian OP t1_j642b3r wrote

I don't remember the first time reading it, but I have a memory from middle school and credit it as introducing me to 'weird' fiction. So good!

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kevnmartin t1_j64k80t wrote

My son loved that book and took it to school in second grade for "share your favorite book day". The teacher wouldn't let him share it because "we don't say that word here."

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Banewaffles t1_j65fa6k wrote

St*nky

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kevnmartin t1_j65h9v2 wrote

Akshually the word was "stupid".

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Just_thefacts_jack t1_j65zoi9 wrote

I struggle with this a bit. I grew up using stupid, dumb, idiot, moron, spaz, etc. I was recently informed by a friend with an autistic son that they don't use any of those words in their house both because a) they're hurtful and b) because historically they were pejorative terms/slurs for neurodivegent and intellectually disabled people.

I try my best to be sensitive with the words I use but these words have always felt safe, even innocent. Nobody is shaming me for using them, I'm just trying to be kind, but they slip in without me even noticing.

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freemason777 t1_j67q0gv wrote

As a nuerodivergent, being precious about language can be very stupid

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Euphoric-Low-9222 t1_j68k9ck wrote

IMO, stopping the usage of any word hurtful or otherwise is like book burning.

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subparhooker t1_j68gymd wrote

I grew up not being aloud to say those words and others. I also wasn't allowed to express emotion that wasn't joy. It's actually left me a bit repressed and unable to cope with different emotions

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Just_thefacts_jack t1_j6cadpu wrote

Oof, not being allowed to express negative emotions was a big one in my family too. Hope you're dealing with that ok.

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kevnmartin t1_j65zwaq wrote

That's heartbreaking. My husband's family was like that. I get it. He took a different book next time. Probably one of his Nate The Great books.

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ArmadilloFour t1_j68fm66 wrote

Every negative term has been wielded against ostracized groups. At some point you have to stop blacklisting words for that reason, or you're going to simply run out of negative words to use.

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Just_thefacts_jack t1_j6ca9rm wrote

I don't know if I agree, I sorta took it as a challenge to come up with more creative insults instead of punching down (whether intentionally or not).

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ArmadilloFour t1_j6d1gz9 wrote

And that's admirable! But I feel like either you've got to come up with incredibly arbitrary terms to use which just feel made up and hard to understand the connotations of ("Yuck, that dude is such a gooseberry!"), or you pick another term which already has sort of negative vibes ("I thought that book was really sludgy"), but you have to work to wrap the word around a meaning it doesn't have. And either way, it feels inevitable that if either of them caught on, they would be applied to ostracized groups in a way that would bring us right back to where we started ("I hate that dude, he's such a gooseberry" -> "You shouldn't call people gooseberries, it's got an ableist history".)

What more creative insults did you come up with, out of curiosity?

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Just_thefacts_jack t1_j6oawfa wrote

Gooseberry is/was a popular one in the UK. I also landed on Muppet, potato, loaf of bread/piece of toast, dipshit, lump, clod, lummox. Really any word for an inanimate object, especially simple/unremarkable objects, seems to do the trick.

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CDSherwood t1_j65cowq wrote

Oh goodness, I hope that teacher never red the "Walter the Farting Dog" series then. 😂😂😂

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jowiso t1_j64rlwq wrote

I have a copy of this signed by the author! They came to our grade school when I was about 7 or 8. I still have it and plan to read it to my kids (when they're old enough). I've never met anyone else who has heard of this book, so it's crazy to see an article about it on NPR. How cool!

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tragedyfish t1_j66i6gx wrote

As it turned out he was just a really ugly duckling, and he grew up to be just a really ugly duck.

Quite possibly the most important lesson I learned as a child.

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heykittums t1_j64lyiv wrote

I loved this book and I told my younger coworkers the ugly gist of the ugly duckling story and they looked at me and one of them said "now I get your sense of humor". He really was just an ugly duck. Iconic.

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StarFists t1_j64rhk1 wrote

This just unlocked a core memory.

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kuluka_man t1_j66b8f8 wrote

This was hands-down my best purchase from a Scholastic book order. I loved the Stinky Cheese Man story in particular so much that I wrote several (now long lost) sequels which retconned the SCM's death and saw him in a successful career in some type of office. I wish I still had those stories lol

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nataratat t1_j65remr wrote

God this was an absolute cult classic at my elementary school. It was always checked out and kids would fight over who got it next. All hail the weird and wonderful Sticky Cheese Man.

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PencilMan t1_j652gok wrote

This book and Captain Underpants inspired me to write stories with my friends. We had a whole shared universe of offbeat kid humor. This brings back some elementary school memories.

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Jampants37 t1_j64yl4f wrote

I wrote a story that involved the stinky cheese man when I was in fifth grade. I don't remember what it was about but it ended with a farmer blasting him with a double barreled shotgun. My teacher left a comment saying it was too violent.

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CaptainKies t1_j675tkg wrote

I didn't realize that "The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs" was by the same author/illustrator duo! Also an iconic book when I was growing up.

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ilysespieces t1_j649l8k wrote

I just commented about this library kids show I did in school on a different thread, but it's relevant here too! We put on a performance of the Stinky Cheese Man for kids at the library and it was so much fun. It's such a great book, I can't wait till my son is a little older and I can read them to him.

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Sci3nceMan t1_j65dxb8 wrote

Gonna be banned in Florida

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JhymnMusic t1_j665pu2 wrote

Love that stinky bastard. I like to think people are still out there running as fast as they can trying to catch him to this day.

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SucksToYourAzmar t1_j64p1od wrote

Yesterday I was just thinking about how I lost this book when I was 12. I loved it

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HolisticHombre t1_j66e3r9 wrote

I think I said "can't catch me, I'm the stinky cheese man" to my kids just a few days ago when we were playing outside, neat.

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revinizog t1_j66hs5c wrote

I was Jack the Narrator in the children's play version of this. Simpler times

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IAmWeary t1_j6730h4 wrote

Jon Sciezka! I read a bunch of his books as a kid. Stinky Cheese Man, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, and several Time Warp Trio books. I loved his bizarre, somewhat creepy illustrations.

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b14z3d21 t1_j653tn3 wrote

Wow! Haven't seen or heard about this in forever.

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cmererestmychemistry t1_j65yls8 wrote

I forgot about this book. I remember it being freaky when I was younger. Glad to see this article otherwise I'd never would have remembered it.

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shakakrumm t1_j66fv5d wrote

This is one of my kids' all time favorites. My youngest is 8 and brought it into her class earlier this school year because some of her classmates hadn't read it before.

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Tradnor t1_j66lig0 wrote

I still have my copy of this book from my childhood. Glad it holds up because it was by far my favorite book back then

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estamosready t1_j670mxx wrote

Wow this took me back. Just ordered it for my nephew

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bhillen83 t1_j6553k6 wrote

My brother loved this book!

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ravioli_brain t1_j66lbdu wrote

book freaked me out as a kid even though I read it over and over

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hunterkillerwife t1_j675izx wrote

I loved that book when I was young, and my son loved the truck book when he was little. It's so awesome to be able to share the same author who you loved with your kids.

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aquasun666 t1_j66yb5k wrote

This book was so incredible to me as a kid. My brothers and I were obsessed.

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AdvonKoulthar t1_j66ymdv wrote

I remember making a Stinky cheese man musical performance as a child for some sort of extracurricular. I was the stinky cheese man.

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Beefyface t1_j6737aq wrote

I'm not shocked to learn the same duo wrote The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs. I loved that book when I was a kid.

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Red-PandaPantalones t1_j673xer wrote

I remember picking this out of the lineup of books at our schools book fair when I was in 5th grade. I thought the stinky cheese man drawings were so cute I just HAD to have it haha I still own that book to this day. What a classic! So glad to see others who have loved it as much, never really met anyone else irl who has read it

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SheepskinCrybaby t1_j67ka1c wrote

Ahaha I love this one, what good memories! I’m going to have to find it in my mums house and look over the artwork and silly story. Thanks for this post!

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goldensunshine429 t1_j67ql1m wrote

This book was my 6th birthday present from my parents. Mom wrote on the inside, so it’s my only picture book from childhood edit: that my mom let me take with me; she has the rest. Still.

I like giving it to my Friends kids because it’s weird and different and fun.

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daniel_joffre t1_j67r35u wrote

Well, what did you really expect of stinky cheese man?

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Houndie t1_j6898ca wrote

Once upon a time there was a giant.

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LiveUpToTheBilling t1_j689eia wrote

The first and LAST book I was allowed to buy at the coveted, mythical annual school book fair! No ‘sad face’ ‘just buying a bookmark’ that year lol I HAD to have this book. The cover art alone sold me despite the adage of never judging by a cover

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hefe300 t1_j68dpe9 wrote

It’s been a grind but he’s aged well. Some might say perfect.

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Tushfeathers t1_j68e73v wrote

This and the Stupids... Great kids books

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rotini_noodle t1_j68ique wrote

This, Hey Al and Scary Stories were the book-related cornerstones of my childhood.

"They don't make them like they used to," for sure.

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laziestmarxist t1_j68kv1u wrote

I have basically no memories thanks to having severe ADHD, but boy do I remember how much I loved this weird ass book.

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zippfam t1_j68pa61 wrote

Wonderful book!

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whereisdana t1_j68qbhw wrote

I think about cinderumplestilskin every day

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Ok372 t1_j68qu7i wrote

I 100% misread the title...

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Herbacult t1_j68ra67 wrote

I wanted this book so much as a kid but never got it. I was looking into buying it just a few months ago!

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Triggerunhappy t1_j699ztd wrote

I totally purchased this as soon as I saw it My son is going to love it

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FieraSabre t1_j6apy7g wrote

I loved this book so much!! I still think about it sometimes haha

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CannedCalamity t1_j6lasxq wrote

This was one of my favorite’s when I was little. Another fantastic one with a creepy art style is The Book That Jack Wrote, although I’ve never heard anyone outside of my immediate family talk about it.

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GargantuanGorgon t1_j6578j8 wrote

"Hey, demographic, remember that thing you and all your peers experienced as a child? It was good/underrated/still holds up! Article over."

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