The Boy Who Cried Underpants!

Stinky's Stories #1

by Chris Grabenstein, J.J. Grabenstein, Alex Patrick (Illustrator)

Underwear has never been so much fun to wear!

It’s story time at Hickleberry Elementary with Stinky the stuffed skunk! You’ve probably heard of the boy who cried wolf, but do you know what happened after no one believed him? Well, according to Stinky, the boy moves away to the Big City, where he gets a job crying wolf for The William D. Wolfe Company, Makers Of All Sorts Of Fine And Fancy Stuff.

But when the boy gets bored again, he decides to use his talents to cry UNDERPANTS instead. When the queen hears his cries, she takes great offense—how dare he???—and suddenly, the Big City is sent into total chaos! Will the boy be able to save the day before it all gets too smelly?

This first stinky story is the first-ever chapter book series from beloved New York Times bestselling authors Chris and J. J. Grabenstein. Filled with page after page of hilarious illustrations by acclaimed artist Alex Patrick. Stinky's Stories is the perfect series for young, reluctant, and emergent readers—or any kid who just loves to laugh.

Genres: Humor, Childrens, Juvenile, Fiction

96 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2024

About the author

CHRIS GRABENSTEIN is a #1 New York Times bestselling author. His books include the LEMONCELLO, WONDERLAND, HAUNTED MYSTERY, DOG SQUAD, and SMARTEST KID IN THE UNIVERSE series, and many fun and funny page-turners co-authored with James Patterson. You can visit Chris at ChrisGrabenstein.com.

Reviews

[Nichole Lemons · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son and I loved this book! It has twists and turns that keep you guessing. He loved the idea of a stuffed animal telling the story and the other stuffed animals chiming in with their opinions.

It’s fun to read aloud with voices, too! Truly fun for the entire family! Highly recommend this new series by Chris and J.J. Grabenstein. We have loved all of Chris’ work so far and this is a perfect addition for younger middle grade children.

Thank you to the author, Harper Collins Children’s Books and NetGalley for allowing us to read and review it.

[Josephine Sorrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Underwear is always good for a laugh and this book is a classic example. It’s time for stories with Mrs. Emerson the school librarian. In r the audience are Geri the odd giraffe, Wags the dog and Mr. Stuffingtin the Bear.they live on a shelf in the library. Stinky the skunk narrates the event.
Now you’ve probably heard of the boy who cried wolf, but do you know what happened after no one believed him? according to Stinky, the boy moves away to the Big City, where he gets a job crying wolf for The William D. Wolfe Company.he pays folks to cry Wolfe to advertise his, All Sorts Of Fine And Fancy Stuff. Of course the boy gets bored again so, he decides to use his talents to cry UNDERPANTS instead of Wolfe. When the queen hears his cries, she takes great offense. As a result, the Big City is sent into total chaos!

Can this day before it all gets too smelly?

This is the first installment in the Stinky’s Stories series. The book is filled with page after page of hilarious illustrations and the dumb crude humor kids love. Offer this series to young, reluctant, and emergent readers, or any kid who just loves to laugh and be silly.

[Ava F · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious book about a stuffed skunk named Stinky who tells the story of what happens *after* your favorite fairy tales. It’s so funny and fast paced

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The children are worried about the ending of the story so Stinky tells them “the rest of the story.”

[Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s cute. The students really enjoyed the story. I like the twisted fairytale aspect. It’s not my favorite by this author, but that is mainly because the bar is high for that. It’s a cute silly read.

[Julie Ditton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chris Grabenstein, author of the famed "Mr. Lemoncello" series is a master storyteller who is most famous for middle grade fiction. He has now turned his talents to chapter books perfect for the early reader. Grabenstein and his wife J.J. have turned Aesop's "Boy who Cried Wolf" into a fantastic, funny retelling. When the children at the school library are unhappy with the ending of the fable, stuffed animal Stinky Skunk takes over as story teller to add a new ending. Stinky tells the tale with lots of twists and eventually "The Boy who Cried Wolf" turns into a silly retelling of "The Emperor's New Clothes". As Stinky enthralls the children with his story, the other stuffed animals chime in with questions and comments. All the animals have unique entertaining characters. The dog is an eager puppy dog, the giraffe is a bit ditzy, and the stuffed bear is quite stuffy. The story has all the humor that readers have learned to expect from Grabenstein and reminds me of the plots from the various chapter book series that he cowrote with James Patterson. The short chapters are illustrated with line drawings by Alex Patrick that bring the characters to life. Because I am a fan of the author, I requested an electronic advanced copy of this book from the publisher. This fun book lived up to my expectations and will enchant early readers in kindergarten through second grade. I am looking forward to reading future stories in this series. JJ Grabenstein is a professional voice actor and I can't wait to listen to the audiobook actually narrated by the authors.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an electronic ARC from HarperCollins Children's Books through NetGalley.
The Grabensteins are bringing their humor to younger readers in this new series. Set in a library after story time. Readers join the adventures as one of the stuffed animals finishes the tale of The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Stinky even puts himself in the story as Bob leaves town and heads for the big city. There, he learns that lots of people cry "Wolfe" to promote the main businesses. He is hired to do the same but becomes bored. Stinky encourage him to use his imagination to do something different. So Bob does. He begins yelling "underpants." As expected, this creates chaos which will be hilarious for young readers. By the end, Bob has found a way to use his imagination and create new products in business with Mr. Wolfe. Alex Patrick's illustrations blend well with the text and bring the characters to life. Looking forward to seeing where this series goes in future books.

[ShaeDuke | Upstate NY · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you have a young grade school reader. (1st -3rd grade) ...who is into stereotypical boy jokes and animals....this will be a hit. But this will be a miss for the majority of young girls out there.

As a girl, this would not have been interesting to me...too much boy humor. But my friend has two little boys under the age of 7 who would greatly enjoy this type of story....although mom would not be able to read before bed as it would rile them up with laughter too much.

So if you have little fellas...and they love jokes about farts and underwear. And laughter gets them to read, this is your book!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC to review.

[Tonya Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love when authors write books for kids of all ages. My family is a huge fan of the Mr. Lemoncello books and I was excited to see an early chapter book come down the line from Chris and JJ Grabenstein. This book does a great job holding the reader's attention with short chapters, an easy to follow story, and pictures to help break up the chapters. I love these things in an early chapter book, as I believe they help to encourage the reader. I look forward to seeing what other stories Stinky has to share.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Very cute and fun, but a little too young for my middle school students. I love the idea of stuffed animals telling stories!

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't love this one. It was a little too crude for my taste but I do some little boys who would enjoy it immensely.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was funny but a little rude at times...I did enjoy the stuffed animals telling the story!

[Kelli · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish. Audio was too much.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

With STINKY, we're bringing library fun to an even younger audience. This series will be our first "early readers" chapter books for kids K-2nd/3rd. We had a lot of fun writing it together, too! Oh – J.J. (professional voice over performer) and I (not-so professional goofy voices guy) will be doing the audio book!!!