Jack and the Beanstalk

Jack and the Beanstalk - E. Nesbit, illustrated by Matt Tavares
Candlewick Press
ISBN: 0-7636-2124-2

My rating: 4 out of 5

This story is a bit more descriptive than what I was used to for “Jack and the Beanstalk.” Despite it’s length, I thought it was pretty good. I’m not really sure that I liked how the land The Giant ruled first belonged to Jack’s father. That seemed a little much for me because it created more questions in my mind than answers. There is one line in this book that I feel some people may take the wrong way: “Jack screamed to his mother for a chopper, and, like the good woman she was, she brought it without asking what it was for (emphasis added).” Some may interpret that as saying that “good” women do not ask questions when told by a male to do something. I feel that line could have been worded a lot differently.

I really liked the illustrations in this book. They are done very realistically and show what is going on very well.

This version of “Jack and the Beanstalk” may be a little too long to use as a read-aloud, but I think that kids would enjoy reading this.