Brainstorm 91: Jack Fairy Tale Adaptations

It’s time for Jack, now. This Brainstorm looks at adaptations of both “Jack and the Beanstalk” and “Jack the Giant Killer” (modern writers often mishmash the two fairy tales together, so I’m not going to distinguish which is which).

Picture Book Resources

Jack and the Baked Beanstalk by Colin Stimpson
Jack buys a can of magic baked beans instead of the coffee his mom sent him out to get for their struggling diner. He knows how the tale is supposed to go, so he scrambles up the beanstalk to claim the treasure. He forgot one little detail though, there's also a giant up there. This giant is uncommonly friendly though. He is thrilled to have a visitor to make lunch for and get a break from counting his money. He willingly lets Jack take the magic hen and the radio with him back down the beanstalk, but he's reluctant to come too because this giant's a bit afraid of heights. Jack is worried the giant may end up lonely, but an accident helps everything work out ok.

Activity Tie-ins/Target Readers:

• Humor Fans: This is a humorous rewrite of Jack and the Beanstalk safe and fun for any age. 
• Compare/Contrast: There’s plenty of differences from the average Jack tale in this book to point out, but enough similarities to make this a book that when compared with original versions of the tale will yield lots of compare/contrast points. Personally, I loved the twists on the normal tale in this one.
• Fun Illustration Fans: The illustrations in this are cartoonish and very kid friendly. It has a little bit of a retro feel since Jack’s mom runs a diner and the illustrations reflect that time period a bit.
• Baked Bean Fans: Baked beans often get a bad rap in literature, but there are plenty of people out there who enjoy this food. Give this book to your favorite baked bean fan.

Giants Have Feelings Too / Jack and the Beanstalk by Alvin Granowsky, ill. by Henry Buerchkholtz and Linda Graves
This book is part of the Another Point of View series. Half of the book is a traditional telling of the fairy tale. The other half of the book tells the tale from the giant’s perspective.

Activity Tie-ins/Target Readers:

• Point of View: This series is obviously aimed at getting kids to think of things from multiple points of view. An easy to grasp example when talking about point of view in writing. The giant’s side explains how he was hurt by Jack’s actions, and that could easily lead into a discussion of why considering the other person’s perspective in a conflict is important.
• Moral Debate: In the traditional tale, Jack does some thieving to help his family survive. This book provides plenty of fodder to debate who the good guy or bad guy is, and whether Jack’s actions were ok or not.
• Compare/Contrast: Of course you can compare and contrast the two versions of the story here, but you can also compare and contrast these versions with other versions of the Jack stories. Even two traditional retellings often have differences.

A Bean, a Stalk, and a Boy Named Jack by William Joyce, ill. by Kenny Callicutt
There's a bit of a shortage of water in the land where an average boy named Jack and an average bean end up doing big things for the whole land (with a little help from a wizard and encouragement from a stinky toe).

Activity Tie-ins/Target Readers:

• Compare/Contrast: This is another retelling that is not your typical Jack and the Beanstalk tale with plenty of things for readers to notice in a compare/contrast activity with another retelling or a more traditional telling. In this one Jack and Bean are a cheery team (yes, you read that right, the bean is a character in this one) and the giant turns out to be a friendly sort. 
• Water Conservation: There’s a bit of a water conservation message tied into this Jack story, making it a great book to remind kids that water is an important resource we need to take care of. May be especially good for kids who have a habit of forgetting to turn off the water or seem to take forever in the shower.
• Illustration Fans: Sometimes I pick up a book just to look at the illustrations. I think that’s totally fine, and I know many others out there do the same thing. The illustrations in this are eye-catching, something I’ve come to expect from anything William Joyce puts his name on, and this didn’t disappoint. It is sure to be as much of a feast for the eyes as the story is for the mind.

Middle Grade Fiction Resources

Jack: the True Story of Jack & the Beanstalk by Liesl Shurtliff
Jack, great (x6) grandson of THE Jack the Giant Killer, feels destined for greatness. He was born to take on sinister giants. The only problem is, giants only seem to exist in his father's tales. And then one day it rains dirt. Giants invade the land and take all the crops and the entire village, including his papa! Jack eventually finds a way to their land in the sky, but getting to the land of the giants is only the beginning of his challenges. In the stories of Jack the Giant Killer, the giants were easily vanquished and the day was won rather quickly. However, the land of giants is full of unmentioned dangers, like cats the size of mountains and moody pixies. Not to mention the fact that once you're in the land of giants it is really, really hard to get anywhere fast because everything is so BIG. And the giants think you're an elf and all elves are slaves of the King (who has a serious obsession with gold) and should be working. Working to help process the food that was stolen from the land below because the giant land has been devastated by famine. It'll take some perseverance and cunning to be able to find Papa, free the elves, end the famine, curtail the greed of the giant King, and rid the land below from the plague of giants once and for all.

Activity Tie-ins/Target Readers:

• Fairy Tale/Adventure/Fantasy/Books with Good Messages Fans: Shurtliff manages to blend the Jack the Giant Killer and Jack and the Beanstalk tales into a more human tale with some depth and that has a hero who cares about things that really matter (hint: not gold). In tactful ways and completely tied into the story so it doesn't feel preachy, Shurtliff tackles slavery, conservation practices, and greed. It could be heavy, but it isn't and gets readers thinking about these issues without even realizing it. And I love the fact that it's another fairy tale adventure with a male lead; those are sure few and far between in the fairytale book world. So it has a good message, it's a fun adventure, and it helps broaden the fairytale genre readership - so many reasons to love this book. 
• Companion Book Fans: There are a few readers out there who like finding the little things that tie related books together, but don’t like the pressures of reading an entire series. Jack, Rump, and Red by Shurtliff are perfect for these readers. Some characters appear in multiple books, but you can totally jump into any of these books and fully get the story without reading the others. 
• Read Aloud: This would be a great pick for a family or class read aloud with it's wide appeal, exciting adventure, and great topics for discussions.

Half upon a Time (Half upon a Time, #1) by James Riley
Jack's life really doesn't have much of a pleasant outlook. His father disappeared after stealing some things from a giant. He is an absolute failure at doing anything right in hero school, and so being a hero doesn't seem likely. And since he doesn't have royal blood, that pretty much dooms him to being a no-name peasant the rest of his life. But then one day a princess falls into his life. No really. She falls out of the sky and practically knocks him over. May is not the most conventional princess. In fact, she didn't even know she had royal blood until some guy in green and a bunch of dwarves showed up at her grandma's house and kidnapped her grandma, but not before that woman sent May through a portal to this strange fairy tale land. Thus Jack finds himself unwittingly the helper for a rather sarcastic and unprincessy princess looking for her rather famous grandmother (anyone heard of Snow White?) in a magical land that doesn't seem to have as many happy endings as the stories May has read. Along the way May and Jack gain some friends, make some enemies, and then get totally confused at the end as some people turn out to not be exactly who they were claiming to be. (And yes, if you can get your hands on the rest of the series all at once, that might be advisable. The book ends with a few more questions than answers.)

Activity Tie-ins/Target Readers:

• Fairy Tale Mashup Fans: There are three books in this series, and though I’m including it here because Jack is a main character, there’s a whole slew of other fairy tale characters who end up appearing. Riley puts his own twist on characters and plot lines, to create a delightfully comic and adventurous fractured fairy tale world without getting quite as dark as some other recent fairy tale revisions. Fairy tale fans should love this book, especially those that speak sarcasm fluently.
• Humor Fans: Books one and two in this series are quite humorous, and good for several laughs. (Book three gets more serious as the plot points all come to a head, so it isn’t as funny.) 

Graphic Novel Resource

Calamity Jack (Rapunzel’s Revenge, #2) by Shannon & Dean Hale, ill. by Nathan Hale
Jack gives a little of the back story for Rapunzel's friend Jack whom she picked up in Rapunzel's Revenge as a partner in setting things to right. The pair are headed back to Jack's home town, so that Jack can help make things right for his poor mother. But they arrive to find the city in a state of disrepair and in the middle of a war with the antmen. Even worse, Jack's mother has been captured by an evil giant and kept as his slave until he can get his hands on the miscreant who stole his golden goose and killed one of his henchmen (though accidentally). Rapunzel and Jack soon team up with the local newspaper owner who smells mischief afoot and has noticed a pattern in a certain giant taking over certain important businesses after they are "accidentally" the sites of battles between the antmen and the city. Is Mr Big-bad-giant behind the war, and if so, how can our heroes ever hope to beat him?

Activity Tie-ins/Target Readers:

• Fairy Tale Fans: Shannon and Dean Hale had fun taking Rapunzel and Jack’s tales and making them their own in this series. You’ve definitely never seen Jack’s story told quite like this. It is still pretty straightforward and somewhat predictable, but quite enjoyable.
• Graphic Novel Fans: Nathan Hale’s art only adds to the fun in this book (ex: I LOVED that the horrifying, blood-thristy guard Jabberwocky for the giant's fortress had a dog-type bed with Mr Jabbers embroidered on it). 
• Western Fans: Since it isn’t abundantly clear, the Hales have put Jack and Rapunzel (aka Punzi) in a Western setting for these graphic novels. Punzi uses her long hair to lasso criminals and other fun little Western adaptations.