A Bean, a Stalk and a Boy Named Jack
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
When a king’s pinky grows stinky, it is up to a smallish boy and a smallish pea to come up with a GIANT plan to save the kingdom—a fractured fairy tale from William Joyce and Moonbot Studios, the masterminds who brought you The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.
You might think you know the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, but you might want to think again. In this fairy tale with a twist, it hasn’t rained in days and the king has dictated that something must be done—his royal pinky is getting stinky! With a little magic from a wizard, young Jack, paired with his pea pod pal, will find a GIANT reason as to why there’s no water left in the kingdom...and prove that size doesn’t prevent anyone from doing something BIG.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Joyce (The Numberlys) dispenses with the scarier parts of Jack and the Beanstalk (no "Fee fi fo fum" here), stringing old and new elements together with chatty narration and dialogue. In this version, there's a drought in the kingdom where Jack lives, a special problem for the royal court: "The king's royal pinky had become stinky." Joyce and newcomer Callicutt give their cast rounded heads that make them resemble Playmobil figures, including the bearded wizard whose ultralong beard deposits a talking bean in Jack's hand. "Hey, I'm a smallish magic bean," the bean says. "Hey, I'm a smallish regular kid," says Jack. The beanstalk leads to a "smallish giant kid named Don" whose overlong bath is responsible for the drought ("So Don..." "Yeah, Jack?" "Been in the tub long?"). Fast pacing and fresh visuals provide continuous laughs and entertainment as Joyce and Callicut drive home a lighthearted message that smallish kids (and beans) can bring about big change. As a bonus, the ending suggests that additional fairy-tale reimaginings could be in store here's hoping. Ages 3 6.
