preschool-2nd grade

Jack and his mom are very poor. One day, his mother instructs him to go into town and sell their cow for 5 magic beans. These beans grow overnight into a massive beanstalk, and at the top of the beanstalk is a village where a mean giant and his wife rule the land. They are horrible to the townsfolk. Jack learns from a fairy that this land was once ruled by Jack's father, and the giant was one of the inhabitants of the land at that time. The giant thought he was more important than anyone else because of his size, so he took over the land with the help of a bad fairy and killed Jack's father. Jack is determined to take back what is rightfully his family's. He steals a hen that lays golden eggs, a few bricks of gold, and a golden harp from the giant. After he does so, he runs back down the beanstalk and chops it down, freeing the townspeople while also helping himself and his mother to escape. The giant's gentle wife is now the ruler of the townspeople, and Jack and his mom now have a more prosperous life.

I liked this book, though it was bit long and at times, overly wordy. I liked the message that size isn't everything. Often, people think they hold more power because they are bigger, but size doesn't matter if you do not have the intelligence to hold your own. Furthermore, this book highlights how people can abuse power because of pride and narcissism. I also liked how even though Jack and his mother have lots of money now, the mother still wants to live in her cottage. I admired the mother's humbleness and modesty. A home is a home. The ending sentence was hilarious, too. ( )

This book is about Jack and his mother. Jack and his mother are very poor so she sends Jack into town to sell their cow. He sells the cow for 5 magic beans. Overnight, the beans grow into a giant beanstalk. Jack climbs the beanstalk to find a giant. When the giant is sleeping, Jack steals some gold, a chicken that lays golden eggs, and a golden harp. The giant chases Jack but Jack hurries down and chops down the beanstalk. Jack and his mother were never poor again.

I would use this book with grades 1st through 4th. Some of the things you could teach with this book are folklore, fairytales, figurative language, onomatopoeia, and themes. ( )

I think that this version of the story sticks closely to the original, however there are some parts of the writing that don't flow quite as well with the rest. However, the story and illustrations appear to be culturally authentic to England where the story originated. The story emphasizes good over evil and following your intuitions.

I thought this was a great book telling the tale of Jack and the beanstalk. The illustrations kept drawing me into the story and making me wonder what could potentially happen next. I thought the writing for the book was very high in terms of vocabulary and the amount of text. This could potentially straw away from younger readers, but I think the illustrations would make up for it. The overall message of the text is that good triumphs over evil. ( )