The Stinky Giant by Ellen Weiss and Mel Friedman

The Stinky Giant tells the story of a brother and sister, Jake and Pepper. They have grown tired of the giant, Urk, washing his stinky clothes and then flooding their town with the smelly water. So they decide to go talk to Urk. After they climb the  mountain to get to his castle, they confront the giant about his dirty wash water. He presents them with a riddle. If they can solve it, he will move away. If they cannot, he will boil them for soup and throw in their sheep too.

The riddle is this: There is something you see everyday, and it is one thing, but also three things. Urk gives them 3 days to solve the riddle.

After thinking and thinking and not coming up with anything right, they decide to make some tea. Jake boils the water and Pepper grabs ice cubes to make it iced tea.  Then they realize, water can be 3 things: water, ice, and steam! They rush back to Urk to tell them the answer. Urk becomes very upset that they solved the riddle, but because a deal is a deal, he moves to the Horrible Land of Hooey. He leaves the next day, but leaves his dirty, smelly socks behind!

This early reader is a silly fairy tale that should be taken lightly. The illustrations are engaging without being creepy. Urk doesn’t ever come across as truly scary, more grumpy and rude. There are some fun phrases for new readers, one containing gentle potty humor: “When Urk burped, it sounded like thunder.”

Language: While describing Urk, he is called ugly. I’m not a huge fan of describing people as ugly, although I’m aware he is a fictional giant. Also, at the end when Urk is leaving, it says “Urk hated it, but a deal was a deal.” We discourage our kids from using the word “hate” so flippantly, a word they truly can’t grasp the weight of, especially since there are better word to use to describe your feelings.

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1. Did you figure the riddle out before Jake and Pepper?
2. What were some other answers you were thinking of?
3. Can you turn ice into water? Gas into water?