Jack: The True Story of Jack and the Beanstalk
By: Liesl Shurtliff
Rating: 5 of 5
This is a fresh new take on the classic stories of “Jack and the Beanstalk” as well as “Jack, the Giant Killer”. In this story, Jack still has both mother and father, as well as a pesky, younger sister. When all sorts of devastation abounds, Jack suspects giants and gets laughed at. I guess he gets the last laugh when he has to go to the land of giants to save the town. He also finds out his sister is not so pesky after all.
The story is fun and fast paced. It is the type of story I would read to my children at night before bed – one chapter per evening. It is also a good read for a younger reader (eight and above) depending on their reading level. There is a lot of action and some slightly scarey moments but all ends well. There seems to be a potential tie in to the author’s previous book about Rumpelstiltskin – which made me want to go back and read that story, too. I’m also looking forward to her take on Red Riding Hood.
I received a complimentary copy of this book via the publisher.