Jack and the Seven Deadly Giants [Hardcover]

Sam Swope (Author), Carll Cneut (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 2004 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

A reinvention of a favorite folktale hero

Ever since he was abandoned on a miller's doorstep as a noisy infant, Jack's been saddled with the reputation of village bad boy. When real trouble arrives -- in the form of seven deadly giants roaming the countryside - Jack is blamed. "Bad attracts bad," the village preacher warns his frightened flock. Jack believes it, too. Worried that the village won't be safe unless he leaves, Jack sets off, never intending to battle the giants, but one by one, that's what happens. And in his surprising encounters with these seven truly bad seeds, Jack proves himself braver, smarter, and better than he ever suspected.

The author has found exactly the right youngster to defeat these overgrown manifestations of the seven traditional human failings (including Sloth, the would-be poet; the ever-incensed Mrs. Roth; and Avaritch, the greedy troglodyte), all of whom come roaring to life in striking pictures by Belgian Carll Cneut.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5-Jack, who was left as a baby on the miller's doorstep, has been dubbed a bad boy by the entire village. So it is not surprising that he is blamed when giants threaten the land. Feeling horrible about himself and wanting to keep the town from harm, he strikes out on his own. His kindness to a stranger yields him one wish. More than anything, Jack wants his mother. He is puzzled when a cow appears, but climbs onto her back, sitting "the wrong way round, so he could look at all the places he had been and be surprised by anyplace he got." As he travels, he meets and foils seven gruesome giants-creatures that personify the seven deadly sins-and cleverly uses each one's flaw to cause his or her defeat. When Jack does away with the mightily mean Green Queen, he unwittingly removes the spell that was long ago placed on his mother, and she changes from a cow back into a human. She assumes her rightful position as Queen, making him the Prince. Elements of traditional literature combine with sometimes over-the-top humor as the boy outwits each giant. For example, the Terrible Glutton lets loose with "a fart so huge that it- blew a crater in the ground, and knocked Jack off his feet." The outlandish tone is sometimes reminiscent of Roald Dahl's work. The plot details and use of language are often clever as the story comes full circle to its satisfying conclusion. Semi-abstract, black-and-white sketches punctuate the absurdity of the tale.
Maria B. Salvadore, formerly at District of Columbia Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 1-4. Within this slim, trim novel lies an inventive melange of "Jack the Giant Killer" and the Seven Deadly Sins. Jack is a foundling who finds himself an outcast. Accompanied by a surprisingly helpful cow, he roams the land, outsmarting such enormous creatures as Sloth, a giant would-be poet; Terrible Glutton, whom Jack convinces to eat himself; and two-headed Tickler, who sounds a bit like the low-IQ giants of Roald Dahl's The BFG. Swope's concise, graceful language is well matched by Cneut's wild illustrations, which have the same off-kilter spirit (albeit with none of the wonderful colors) as his acclaimed work in Malachy Doyle's picture book Antonio on the Other Side of the World, Getting Smaller (2003). Here, making the most of a much smaller page, he is similarly playful with scale and strange angles. The book's finale is satisfying and sweet: Jack gets the best life a boy could imagine--along with a big surprise that involves his faithful cow. Abby Nolan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (May 10, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374336709
• ISBN-13: 978-0374336707
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,034,994 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fresh treatment of a traditional story, June 11, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Jack and the Seven Deadly Giants (Hardcover)

I love it when an author uses traditional story materials and freshens them with a new approach. That's what Sam Swope has done with "Jack and the Seven Deadly Giants." Jack is every stalwart, good-hearted boy who ever lived--even if he does get into trouble. We've met him in Jack and the Beanstalk, and now he's back in this book, vanquishing one enemy after another with clever thinking and panache. The Seven Deadly Sins are re-tooled for younger readers, but they still pose the challenges all excesses do. It's brilliant that these excesses are represented by giants since their temptations do indeed loom as gigantic in our lives. It's rare to find a book that's both funny and thought-provoking, but this is it!