• Stinky Cheese Man, written by John Scieszka; illustrated by Lane Smith
• Two pieces of white drawing paper or construction paper
• Drawing instruments
• Various types of paint - tempera, watercolors, acrylics, oils
• Paint brushes
• Clean-up supplies

Time Required: 60-95 minutes

• Cover the work surface with large sheets of newsprint or butcher paper.
• Provide two pieces of white drawing paper or large sheets of construction paper (11" x 18") for each teen.
• Offer different types of drawing instruments for teens to draw a picture prior to painting.
• Supply various types of paints so teens can explore different media.

• Share some tales from the The Stinky Cheese Man. "The Princess and the Bowling Ball," "The Really Ugly Duckling," "The Other Frog Prince," "Cinderumpelstiltskin," "The Tortoise and the Hare," and "The Stinky Cheese Man" work well for this activity.
• Discuss Lane Smiths often one-page image that goes along with each tale.
• Discuss abstract art and the disregard for representing objects, and why this style is appropriate for this book.
• Provide several copies of the book, if possible, and allow teens to decide which tale they would like to illustrate.
• First, they should draw their own version of the character (for example, the stinky cheese man) using an abstract art style.
• Next, allow them to explore various media on the other piece of drawing or construction paper. Once they have chosen their medium/media, they can complete their illustrations by painting their drawing.

Volunteer Involvement:
Volunteers may:

• Set up the paint and explain the properties of each - acrylics, oils, tempera, and watercolors. They can demonstrate ways to use the various paints and the benefits of each. For assistance with this, see: http://picturingbooks.imaginarylands.org/
• Offer support while the teens are creating their own abstract paintings, and ask them questions about their techniques. Instruct volunteers to reassure the teens that their work is abstract when it is streamlined or distorted in some way.
• Help clean up.
• Allow teens to create their own work.

Family Involvement
Families may:

• Provide various art media and drawing materials at home for teens to explore without feeling pressure to produce an art work. Exploration without a final product can teach much about process and imagination.
• Browse a list of artists from abstract arts inception during the late 1940s: Jackson Pollack, Elaine and Willem de Kooning, Hans Hoffman, and Mark Rothko. Can they find examples of their work in art books or other sources? Parents and teens may want to read Action Jackson by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jackson for information about Jackson Pollack. (Roaring Brook Press, 2002)
• Share twisted folk tales or make up some of their own.

• Ask teens where abstract art is displayed in the community - in buildings, on signs, billboards, and as sculpture.
• Take teens on a tour to see works that are abstract or nonobjective. (Nonobjective art consists of creative uses of color, form, line and design.)
• Invite a photographer to explain how even photographs can be changed from realistic to abstract through the use of lenses, lighting, double exposures, angles, etc.
• Have a local seamstress show abstract quilt styles.

• Share some other twisted tales and morals by the same author and illustrator team. (See the list below.) Then have teens write their own twisted tales or fables and illustrate them.
• Have interested teens explore Cubism, a precursor to abstract art, in which artists such as Pablo Picasso and Paul Cezanne attempted to illustrate three-dimensional objects with their backs, sides, and bottoms showing, onto flat, two-dimensional surfaces. Additional Cubists include Georges Braque, Marcel Duchamp, Juan Gris, Fernand Leger, Piet Mondrian, and Georges Rouault.

Related Resources
Web Sites:
Read about Lane Smith at:
http://www.kidsreads.com/features/2002-smith.asp

Read more about abstract art at:
http://www.abstract-art.com/index.shtml

Books
Twisted folk tale and fable books by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith:
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. Viking, 1989, reissued 1999.

The Stinky Cheeseman and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. Viking, 1993, reissued 2003.

Squids Will Be Squids: Fresh Morals, Beastly Fables. Viking, 1998.

Other Examples of Twisted Tales:
Ada, Alma Flora. With Love Little Red Hen. Atheneum, 2001. Also, Yours Truly, Goldilocks and Dear Peter Rabbit.

Artell, Mike. Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood. Dial, 2001.

Birdseye, Tom. Look Out, Jack! The Giant Is Back! Holiday House, 2001.

Denim, Sue. The Dumb Bunnies. Scholastic, 1998. Dave Pilkey, Illustrator.

Emberley, Ed. Three Cool Kids. Little Brown, 1995.

Hartman, Bob. The Wolf Who Cried Boy. Putnam, 2002.

Huling, Jan and Phil. Puss in Cowboy Boots. Simon & Schuster, 2002.

Jackson, Ellen. Cinder Edna. Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1994.

Levine, Gail Carson. Betsy Who Cried Wolf. HarperCollins, 2002.

Lowell, Susan. Dusty Locks and the Three Bears. Henry Holt,

2001.

Meddaugh, Susan. Cinderellas Rat. Houghton Mifflin, 1997.

Minters, Frances. Cinder-Elly. Viking, 1994.

Mitchell, Marianne. Joe Cinders. Henry Holt, 2002.

Osborne, Mary Pope. Brave Little Seamstress. Atheneum, 2002.

Osborne, Mary Pope. Kate and the Beanstalk. Atheneum, 2000.

Salley, Coleen. Epossumondas. Harcourt, 2002.

Scieszka, Jon. The Frog Prince Continued. Viking, 1991.

Stevens, Janet and Susan Stevens Crummel. And the Dish Ran Away

with the Spoon. Harcourt Brace, 2001.

Stevens, Janet and Susan Stevens Crummel. Cook-a-Doodle-Doo! Harcourt Brace, 1999.

Sturges, Philemon. The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza. Dutton, 1999.

Tolhurst, Marilyn. Somebody and the Three Blairs. Orchard, 1991.

Vaes, Alain. The Princess and the Pea. Little, Brown, 2001.

Wattenberg, Jane. Henny-Penny. Scholastic, 2000.

Wiesner, David. The Three Pigs. Clarion, 2001.

Youngquist, Cathrene Valente. The Three Billygoats Gruff and Mean

Calypso Joe. Atheneum, 2002.