Fearsome Giant, Fearless Child: A Worldwide Jack and the Beanstalk Story

by Paul Fleischman, Julie Paschkis (Illustrator)

Overview

Drawing from African, Asian and European folklore Fearsome Giant, Fearless Child: A Worldwide Jack and the Beanstalk Story retells the classic fairy tale in a single narrative through multiple world cultures.

The story of a child confronting a man-eating giant or witch is told the world over. These heroes go by many names and might be normal in size or no bigger than a thumb. Though they're often scorned for being the youngest and smallest, they're well-armed with cleverness and courage.

In this companion to Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal, Newbery Medal winner Paul Fleischman and illustrator Julie Paschkis combine elements of this story from different traditions—Jack and the Beanstalk, Tom Thumb, Kihuo, Vasilisa—to create one narrative, one complete picture of a small boy's triumph.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250151773
Publisher:	Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication date:	04/23/2019
Series:	Worldwide Stories
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD590L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Paul Fleischman won a Newbery Medal for Joyful Noise and a Newbery Honor for Graven Images. He is also the author of young adult novels including Whirligig and The Mind's Eye, and middle-grade novels including Bull Run and Seedfolks. He lives with his wife in northern California.

Editorial Reviews

02/25/2019

This collaboration offers a kaleidoscopic presentation of the traditional boy and giant story by collaging text fragments from different cultures’ tellings. Each story fragment is boxed and framed by color-saturated illustrated backgrounds evoking the text’s origin country, which is also spelled out in a subtly incorporated title card. The format evokes the sense of an eager chorus, with voices from Ethiopia, Gambia, Greece, Japan, the Philippines, and elsewhere jostles in a folkloric cacophony that offers conflicting details. A boy who is “the youngest of twelve. The youngest of thirteen” must steal or find something: a golden harp, a prize bull, a wish-granting jewel, a thousand pearls. These shifting elements alchemically coalesce into a sturdy plot in which the littlest and least-regarded triumphs. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"This collaboration offers a kaleidoscopic presentation of the traditional boy and giant story by collaging text fragments from different cultures’ tellings. . . These shifting elements alchemically coalesce into a sturdy plot in which the littlest and least-regarded triumphs." — Publishers Weekly

"The story is brimming with tension and adventure . . . an excellent addition to storytelling and fairy-tale collections." —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

04/01/2019

Gr 1–4—In this compelling companion to Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal, Fleischman and Paschkis retell the "Jack and the Beanstalk" story by piecing together various versions from around the globe. Snippets from stories featuring fearsome giants and fearless children from Italy, Japan, Denmark, Ethiopia, France, Indonesia, Chile, England, Gambia, Greece, Germany, Mongolia, Russia, Norway, the Philippines, and the United States, are seamlessly woven together for a unique and riveting version of this timeless fairy tale. Beginning with a king and his scorned son and continuing with the abandonment and clever deliverance of the young protagonist, the story is brimming with tension and adventure. The contrast of the various interpretations is fascinating, and the curiosity it stirs up keeps the story moving at a rapid and intriguing pace. The book is respectful of a child's ability to handle the good and the bad elements of the plot and is not neutralized for the very young. Each framed illustration is surrounded by elaborate and colorful border art depicting dragons, giants, and other terrifying creatures. The colors are earthy and deep and the paintings angular and bold. VERDICT An excellent addition to storytelling and fairy-tale collections.—Amy Shepherd, St. Anne's Episcopal School, Middleton, DE

School Library Journal

2019-01-28

This latest in the Worldwide Stories series is a culturally eclectic remix of the "Jack and the Beanstalk" tale from the pair who looked at Creation tales in First Light, First Life (2016) and the Cinderella story in Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal (2007).

This confusing, composite variant scarcely resembles the "Jack and the Beanstalk" rendering that most North American readers might know. The author draws on the stories of 16 different countries from Indonesia to Gambia, the United States to Mongolia, interweaving them into one narrative that will require multiple reads to interpret. With monsters that include an ogre, witches, the devil, and a giant, readers will wonder where the familiar pieces of the story are. Those acquainted with the variant arguably best known in North America will recognize "Fee, fi, fo, fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman" but little else. For example, there are no magic beans in this retelling. Where the narrative lacks cohesion, the unifying thread is left up to the illustrator. Paschkis' comely folk-art-style gouache paintings recall the tapestries and textiles of the various countries represented in the story, and readers will be able to discern the main character in each illustration. It's a shame that more extensive notes than the pointer to SurLaLune Fairy Tales and Margaret Read MacDonald's Tom Thumb (1993) are not offered for those curious readers who would wish to further pursue the divergent iterations presented here.

A clever but disjointed take, with no Jack and no beanstalk. (Picture book/folktale. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews