These lines, uttered by a dreadful ogre who lives at the top of a magical beanstalk, are among the most deliciously chilling in English folklore. Anthea Bell has captured all the dangers and delights of this favorite tale in her spirited retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk based on the classic version by Joseph Jacobs.?Children will be spellbound from the moment Jack sets out to market to sell his widowed mother's cow, only to trade it for a handful of beans--beans that lead to a great adventure. And they will relish the drama and suspense of Jack's journey from rags to riches, illustrated with dark humor and eccentric charm by Aljoscha Blau.?
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Grade 3-5-Bell has condensed the narrative in her retelling of this popular tale, added touches of violence that are reflected in the art, and replaced the familiar giant with an ogre. Blau's bizarre, surrealistic illustrations do indeed exhibit "dark humor," as suggested on the book's flyleaf. The mean-faced ogre appears to be a drunken hoodlum (overgrown buzz cut, red-rimmed eyes, veined temples, flushed cheeks, empty bottles littering the floor). His children are four-legged, long-tailed imps with human heads and his wife is a giant of a woman whose face is covered by a Kabuki mask. Characters and objects are placed on cut and torn, fibrous parchment against painted backgrounds. Neither story nor illustrations compare favorably with the strong narrative of Ann Beneduce's tale and Gennady Spirin's romanticized paintings (Philomel, 1999) or with the more cheerfully illustrated traditional telling by Paul Galdone (Clarion, 1982). In fact, this new edition is not particularly suitable for children.
Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gr. 8-12. Likely to draw its most appreciative audience from readers interested in art, illustration, and design, this picture book for older readers showcases Russian-born Aljoscha Blau's paint-and-tissue collage art. There are doglike characters with human heads; a giant's wife clad in an apron, housedress, and what looks like a Noh mask; crockery and spot details that float on the page; and a coarse-featured giant who resembles somebody's unkempt Dad on a bender. Bell's text is a shortened version of Joseph Jacobs' story, with unobtrusively modernized language. The unusual color and texture effects are intriguing, and the urbane, low-key humor in some scenes may draw a chuckle or two. Older teens may find themselves speculating about meanings behind the unsettling presentation. Not a version for the younger crowd. John Peters
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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