Jack: The True Tale of Jack and the Beanstalk

I’ll admit I was skeptical that the fairy tale of Jack and the Beanstalk could be expanded into a full length book. Turns out, I had nothing to worry about. Shurtliff has done a great job of fleshing out Jack’s story. He builds a detailed world for both Jack and his family on the ground and for

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the giants in the sky. He gives the legend an original back-story – why did Jack really sell the cow? Why do the giants really want to catch people? I was amazed that a middle grade book could draw me in as this book did. Jack finds himself in some tight situations but nothing that will be too scary for younger readers. It also has some good lessons – presented in a fun way. Kids might not even realize they’re learning something!

Jack is a wonderful story full of suspense and adventure that kids will love.

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Jack has giant-killer blood, even though he has been told by his parents that giants don't exist...but he is sure they do. One night, giants come to his town and take everything: the crops, the houses, even his father. He searches for a way to get to the world of the giants, and stumbles upon magic

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beans that grow a beanstalk up to the sky. Jack searches through the land of the giants, running into crazy adventures, and trying to save his father.

This book was a good companion to the story of Jack and the Beanstalk (and I think more kids will know the story than know Rumpelstiltskin) but it was sometimes a little too intricate to enjoy. I loved that it was set in the same land as Rump and that the stories were happening at the same time.

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So, this is the 2nd book in the non-series of fairy-tale books by Liesl Shurtliff. At least, as far as I can tell, they are not in a series. And, honestly, this book could easily be read alone, and I don't know that you would be too lost if at all. Personally, I like to read "in order" when there

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is an order, and I liked having the back story knowledge. But in a lot more ways than I expected, Rump and Jack are not really related.

Nor was this book, I think, as strong from the start, as Rump was. Rump had me hooked right away (at least the second time around reading it), while Jack took a bit before I really was enjoying myself completely. Once I got into the book completely, though, and was really enjoying it, I really had a good time with this book.

I think there was just something about Jack and Tom and especially Martha at the beginning that was not terribly genuine. I couldn't connect with Jack and Tom especially, so I felt kind of like I was missing something from the story. But then somehow Jack and Tom both became more open and genuine, and I was able to connect with them.

Overall, still a really interesting book, and a fun look at the world of Jack and the Beanstalk. These books are really fun if you like twisted fairy tales and fables, and I'm really looking forward to diving into reading Red next.

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All work and no play makes Jack extremely bored. And when Jack gets bored, he makes mischief. It's not that he's bad; he just longs for adventure -- and there's nothing adventurous about toiling day and night to grow yucky green stuff.

Adventure finally arrives one day in the form of giants, and

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soon Jack is chasing them to a land beyond the clouds, with his little sister, Annabella, in tow.
-from the book jacket
This a sequel to Rump, a retelling of the story of Rumplestiltskin. And by combining and retelling Jack & the Beanstalk and Jack the Giant Killer, Shurtliff does it again. Jack is a bored troublemaker who lives on a farm. When giants come out of the sky and take his whole village, including his dad, Jack finds a way to go after them and try to find him. How can this be a sequel you say, with none of the same characters we saw in Rump? I'm glad you asked. Funny thing is, when Jack gets to the giant kingdom, we realize that Jack is in the world of Rump, in King Barf's kingdom. It is an ingenious way to tie the books together.

Another great fairytale retelling. The story is fun and moves quickly. There are some very funny moments and a few surprises. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and I'm looking forward to her next book which will be a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.

Recommended to:
Grades 3 - 5 through to adults. Anyone who likes fairy tales really. It's a very fun book.

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Jack lives with his mother, father and little sister, Annabella, in a small, poor village. Jack finds it very boring to work in his father’s fields all day, and dreams of becoming a giant slayer, just like his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Jack. Jack's practical mother

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insists there is no such things as Giants, but she is wrong.

The giants live in the Above, in the sky, and the regular people live Below. It’s been a long time since the giants have come Below, but when strange things start happening in the village --- buildings are damaged, crops are stolen, cattle go mysteriously missing and some people, including Jack’s father, completely disappear. Some people think the giants may be back, but not Jack's mother. Jack is determined to find a way to go after the giants, live out his dreams and bring his father back. He sells the last cow for a handful of Giant beans. His mother is horrified that Jack would sell the last thing of any value they own for a handful of beans. Jack plants the beans and you know what happens, a giant beanstalk grows into the sky. Jack climbs hoping to rescue his father. In the Above, there are in fact giants, but everything else is gigantic, bugs, snakes, chickens, etc. the reason the giants have shown up in the Below again is because giants are stealing crops and cattle from the Below because their food sources have seriously and mysteriously diminished. A new Problem arises because the giants hands are too enormous to milk the cows or shuck the corn, so they begin capturing folks from the Below to accomplish these tasks so they won't starve. Key to the whole mystery is king Barf's golden egg laying hen.

The author, Shurtliff does a great job of putting a “new twist on an old tale.”
Author Liesl Shurtliff combines elements of two old tales, Jack and the Beanstalk and Jack the Giant Slayer, to bring us this “true” story of Jack and the beanstalk.

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