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60 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
The art is charming, but...?, September 22, 2005
I've just finished reading this adapted work.
The story is as old as time itself. Boy makes "bad" exchange with magical results.
This book was a bad exchange - my time for it's content.
Let me tell you the story so you don't waste your time as well:
It starts with Jack riding his brand new bike. He comes across a man who looks sad. He's sad because he's never had a new bike, and would Jack mind trading it for a sack of magic beans? Jack does (because as a character in a story, he has to). His apathetic mother, much less concerned that her son talks to strange shoeless men on the beach than that he's traded a bike for beans, says "there's no such thing as magic." Jack responds by planting the beans. The resulting beanstalk takes him on a magical adventure to three different places before returning him home.
The beanstalk first takes him under the sea to a sunken treasure. As he grabs fistsful of gold, a seemingly fierce octopus comes along to inform him that he is guardian of that gold and that jack should "ask before you take". Jack appologizes, and the octopus (smiling) lets him go with the gold (without asking for it).
Next, the beanstalk takes him to a patch of beautiful flowers that happen to be near a cave. Jack picks some flowers, and is immediately accosted by seemingly fierce ogre who tells him to "ask before you take". Jack appologizes again, and the ogre lets him go with a smile and the flowers (without asking for them - are you sensing a pattern?).
Finally, the beanstalk takes him to a chocolate castle in the sky. We see Jack leaving with two huge chunks of chocolate in his pocket before he is approached by a seemingly fierce chicken (?) who tells him to "ask before you take". Jack explains that he's taking it for his mother. The chicken lets him go with a smile and the chocolate (you know without what).
He returns home to his mother (who is apparently dead inside), and presents her with his booty. All is well.
The end.
The story is supposed to teach the value of asking before taking. As written, Jack never learns that lesson. The first encounter with the octopus could have been taken as an example for future behaviors. Jack, on this stop, finds the treasure, grabs the gold(as anyone would), and goes to leave. The octopus guarding the treasure tells him to ask for the gold. Jack agrees that this would be proper behavior, but he doesn't ask for it and walks away with it anyway.
That is acceptable, only if future behaviors are modified. Any reader would look for that change, and assume it would happen. In that assumption you would be incorrect. The other two encounters are much the same. Jack never learns to look for an owner or guardian before touching what belongs to someone else (be it flower or castle), and the guardians let him go without Jack's having asked to take the items.
This could go on infinitely, in that there are an infinite number of guardians of things and an infinite number of things to be guarded and taken.
This book is a prime example of how corporations view the children's book industry. They churned it out in less than a day without any true regard to its content. The art is charming and the feat of writing and illustrating a book in a day is an amazing accomplishment. It might have been better to go for accuracy than speed. Oh, had they taken a night to sleep on it and read it with fresh eyes in the morning!
The only thing I learned from this book is that you can be forgiven for stealing as long as you have what you think is a good reason, especially if you can hoodwink people into seing your point of view. Good for felons. Bad for kids.
Go and find a good book for your child.
I recommend Cinder Edna, Mercy Watson Saves the Day, or Leonardo the Terrible Monster.
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27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
And I thought Madonna's was bad..., September 26, 2005
Well, I still think Madonna's books are horrible, but this one is much, much worse. I actually felt sorry for Martha being locked up, but now? Where's the key? Anyone who would do this to the children's literature image should be tarred and feathered. Then locked up.
Where is the story? Where is any original thought? What did Jack really want besides honing his kleptomaniac desires? Why are celebrity books ALWAYS didactic? When will publishers learn that most celebrities can't write a good story for children if their lives depended on it?
When will children's book editors take a stand against horrible celebrity books? Children want, need, and deserve real books to read.
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
So where's the cute guy to read it to MY kids?, September 25, 2005
...that's the only factor that kept the test-market kids awake in this leaden, moralistic tale spawned during the premier episode of Martha Stewart's new reality show. (And you don't suppose the presence of a TV camera contributed to their enthusiasm, do you?) The fact that this book reeked an iota less than its competitor is hardly a selling point. There's plenty of stink to go around.
The competition's book broke the first rule of children's book writing: Don't write in rhyme unless you're a genius at it. (And, even then, you might want to spend a day or two or HUNDRED revising your effort, as do seasoned authors.)
This book broke the second rule: Don't preach. It's boring. Kids get plenty of teaching in school. Celebrity "authors" especially love this device. With Martha's name attached and all the surrounding hype, this book falls squarely into the amateurish, celebrity book category... with the added strike against it of having been written hastily with no time for editing.
As if you need any other reason to avoid this book, look at the name of the "author." When was the last time you read a good book written by a corporation?
If you want to teach your kids a lesson, teach them to appreciate great books. Teach them to buy books based on the quality of the story, not the size of the marketing machine behind them.
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