This edition of Jack and the Beanstalk includes Joseph Jacobs’s version of the story, the most popular version. It also includes original art from earlier versions with added talk bubbles.
Also included are vocabulary words from the story with Sniffy the Hamster, a professional wordsmith, who has, shall we say, a way with words. Want to listen to Sniffy? The vocabulary for the book is available here.
And let’s not forget, of course you can’t because you’ve never met him, Professor Bartholomew Higginbottom, the literary mouse, who lives in the walls of Mr. Draeger’s house and is responsible for many adventures. This one takes Mr. Draeger up the beanstalk to meet Jacks, Giants and Fairies.
Jack and the Beanstalk is close to 300 years old. The earliest printed versions date to 200 years ago. There are many versions of the story. The two most common differ in their justification or lack of it for Jack’s behavior. In Joseph Jacobs version Jack is a trickster, a common personality in myths and fairy tales. In Andrew Lang’s version Jack is the rightful heir to all that the giant has and he takes it back.
This is Literature Disguised as Fun.
