The Jack Tales: Folk Tales From The Southern Appalachians [Hardcover]

Richard Chase (Compiler), Jr. Berkeley Williams (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

A collection of folk tales from the southern Appalachians that center on a single character, the irrepressible Jack.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Humor, freshness, colorful American background, and the use of one character as a central figure in the cycle mark these eighteen folktales, told here in the dialect of the mountain country of North Carolina." Booklist, ALA

About the Author

Richard Chase collected The Jack Tales in the mountain country of North Carolina, where they have been handed down for generations. Everyone knows the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. This book contains eighteen stories about Jack, many of them still completely new to the average reader. And what adventures Jack has! Noted American folklorist Richard Chase (1904-1988) has been called the man "most responsible for the renaissance of Appalachian storytelling." A collector of tales that had been handed down from generation to generation in the Appalachian regions of the United States, Chase was born in Alabama and lived in the mountains of North Carolina.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children; 50th edition (September 9, 1943)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395066948
• ISBN-13: 978-0395066942
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #318,329 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #11 in Books > Children's Books > Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths > United States

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Childhood memories that stand the test of time, July 8, 1999

By 

Elizabeth Kerner (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Jack Tales: Folk Tales From The Southern Appalachians (Hardcover)

My mother, who was from North Carolina with relatives in the Appalachians, read The Jack Tales to my brother and me before we started reading for ourselves. She got really tired of doing so, because we'd ask for them over and over. Fairy tales are the deep learning of childhood, and to hear these stories written the same way our older relatives spoke was wondrous. The stories themselves are a celebration of Jack the hero and Jack the Trickster, told with plenty of humour to keep things interesting and in a voice both authentically American and of universal appeal. I'm delighted to be able to get my hands on a copy - this is a book well worth reading and preserving for the next generation of avid readers.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book . Children will sit and listen to it being read., May 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Jack Tales: Folk Tales From The Southern Appalachians (Hardcover)

I first heard the Jack Tales when I was in the fourth grade back in the 1960's. Our teacher would read us a chapter once a week. I had to look good and hard to find a copy for my daughters they have enjoyed hearing about Jack.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Let's Eat Jack for Supper", January 11, 2006

By 

James Charnock (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Jack Tales (Hardcover)

Jack's always gittin' into some find of fixin' and always gittin' outa it. He's a hillbilly that's not too bright; 'cept he always manages to outsmart his troubles. Like the time the four-headed giant and his mom want to eat little bitty Jack for supper after he had killed her three sons (each with several heads) which were about six times the size of a natural person. Look-a-here, you might say, how can uh ordinary boy whup so many giants? Well'm, he can't. (Ain't ye got no sense?) He outsmarts 'em. And it's a real howdy do!

The Creative Teacher: Activities for Language Arts (Grades 4 through 8 and Up)