Liesl Shurtliff is at it again. I read Rump when it came out and loved it. I am also a big fan of retold, twisted fairy tales. So, what did I think of this?
Jack and the Beanstalk is not my favorite folktale so it did have one strike against it. I did like it well enough though. Jack was a mischievous lad, always getting into trouble. He has grown up hearing tales of a great, great, many times great grandfather Jack the Giant Killer and wants to be like him. The problem is no one really believes in giants anymore. That is until giants start coming down and stealing crops, people, animals, and whole buildings. Jack attempts to find out what is going on. yes, he does trade the cow for magic beans but this version is a bit different. Yes, he does climb the beanstalk but things are radically different at that point. Jack meets good giants, a bad giant king, tries to find his dad, and eventually discovers the truth behind the giant's famine.
Overall I liked it. I thought it got a bit long but it really picked up at the end. I liked the tie in with Rump and some other clever twists. Will I buy it for my library? I need to look at how Rump is circulating before I decide...
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