Customer Reviews

Jack and the Beanstalk

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Matt Tavares does a great job drawing the scary land at the top of the beanstalk - skeletal remains and twisted trees, grey and foreboding.

But the giant doesn't say his classic "FEE FIE FO FUM." It's wrong to omit that.

Jack has a cute, persuasive personality, and the giant is hideous with bloodshot eyes.

I put "FEE, FIE, FOE, FUM" in myself.

Edith Nesbit's classic dry wit shines through in her brilliant delivery of this traditional fairy tale (originally published in 1908), which is enjoyable on both a child's level and an adult's. Tavares' excellent paintings show the giant's evil partly through his personal demeanor -- his home is squalid, and the stains on his shirt almost smell of body odor. Nesbit keeps to the traditional story sequence, and Jack is transformed from a foolish ne'er-do-well into a hero, and through courage and intelligence recovers what rightfully belongs to his family.

The parental figures in this story are positive: Jack's deceased father was a good ruler, and his mother loves honest work and home, choosing to stay in her cottage even when their newfound wealth would have allowed her to leave. Nesbit's moralizing about Jack's laziness is a bit heavy-handed, but even this is tongue-in-cheek. This is the best Jack and the Beanstalk story I have ever read.