From School Library Journal
Grade 1-3 Jack, the not-too-bright, brash young man who sells his cow for beans, foils a giant and gains great wealth in the process, is back again. All of the elements of the English tale are here: Jack's sale of Milky White to a strange little man; the magical growth of an enormous beanstalk; one chorus of "Fee-fi-fo-fum," etc.; three trips up the stalk to strip the giant of his sack of gold, the hen who lays golden eggs and the harp of gold; and finally Jack's hasty trip down and the giant's unceremonious demise. DeRegniers explains that all of the items Jack steals from the giant once belonged to his father, a fact which Joseph Jacobs in English Folk and Fairy Tales (Putnam, 1904; o.p.) chose to omit. Here, though, the tale is retold in verse with a predictable pattern and rhyme which is sometimes broken by an extended line. It does, however, lend itself to being read aloud and could be used for dramatization with children (as a play or a choral reading). Cartoon-like watercolors in soft colors race through the pages to add movement and humor to the text. Maria B. Salvadore, District of Columbia Public Library
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
