When we walked into the
Ashpot Library my little sister, Margo, was immediately drawn to the cover of It’s Not Jack and the Beanstalk. I
thought the cover looked great too. I'm a big fan of fairy tales (and not
simply the Disney ones, but the real fairy tales), so I was excited to get reading.
This book is a twist on the
traditional version of Jack and the
Beanstalk that most people are familiar with, which is what makes it such a
blast. While the reader is being told the story by the narrator, Jack comments
with his thoughts on what is happening. Some of the classic elements are
included, but the reader can expect a different ending.
Margo loved this book
because she thought it was funny. I totally agree! Jack’s comments made me laugh, and they put a hilarious
spin on the story. Edwardian Taylor's bright illustrations really pop off the page. All of the colors and details give the reader
a lot to look at, this was especially interesting when we read
the book a second time.
The book even inspired
us to do some planting. Although the ground is frozen, and we can’t grow
anything outside right now, we did plant some bean seeds we bought at the store. They are on
the windowsill in the kitchen, and Margo has made sure to use all kinds of
magical phrases to help them grow. Of course, she used the spells from the book on our beans! While I don’t think we'll grow a magic beanstalk since they were regular seeds, it will be fascinating to see what happens. I'm guessing there will be more
readings of this book in the future!
Has anyone else read It’s Not Jack and the Beanstalk? Or have
you read another book by Josh Funk? We’d love to hear your thoughts!
~ F
