Book Review: Jack: The True Story of Jack and the Beanstalk by Liesal Shurtliff

Jack: The True Story of Jack and the Beanstalk by Liesl Shurtliff
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Release Date: April 14, 2015
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

All work and no play makes Jack extremely bored. And when Jack gets bored, he makes mischief. It’s not that he’s bad; he just longs for adventure—and there’s nothing adventurous about toiling day and night to grow yucky green stuff.

Adventure finally arrives one day in the form of giants, and soon Jack is chasing them to a land beyond the clouds, with his little sister, Annabella, in tow. The kingdom of giants is full of slugs the size of sheep, venomous pixies as tall as grown men, and a chatty cook with the biggest mouth Jack has ever seen. There’s giant fun to be had, too: puddings to swim in, spoons to use as catapults, monster toads to carry off pesky little sisters. . . .

But Jack and Annabella are on a mission. The king of the giants has taken something that belongs to them, and they’ll do anything—even dive into a smelly tureen of green bean soup—to get it back.

I’ll admit I was skeptical that the fairy tale of Jack and the Beanstalk could be expanded into a full length book. Turns out, I had nothing to worry about. Shurtliff has done a great job of fleshing out Jack’s story. He builds a detailed world for both Jack and his family on the ground and for the giants in the sky. He gives the legend an original back-story – why did Jack really sell the cow? Why do the giants really want to catch people? I was amazed that a middle grade book could draw me in as this book did. Jack finds himself in some tight situations but nothing that will be too scary for younger readers. It also has some good lessons – presented in a fun way. Kids might not even realize they’re learning something!

Jack is a wonderful story full of suspense and adventure that kids will love.

(I received this book courtesy of the Amazon Vine program.)

For more reviews of books for children and teens, check out Booking Mama’s feature, Kid Konnection, posted on Saturdays. If you’d like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children’s books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, you can go to her site to leave a comment and your link .