“Jack and the Beanstalk.” Fairy Tales in Easy Words, Springfield, MA: McLoughlin Brothers, Inc., [1923], pp. 27-56.
Tale Summary
The story begins with a widow and her son, Jack, who are poor and need to sell their cow for money. Jack takes the cow into town and is offered magic beans in exchange for it. When his mother sees he’s brought home beans instead of money, she throws the beans out the window and a great beanstalk grows into the clouds. Jack climbs the stalk in hopes of finding food. He comes across a town among the clouds and is helped by a magic fairy to find a giant’s castle (home to the giant who killed Jack’s father). Jack eventually steals a magic hen and gold coins from the giant. Jack also attempts to steal a harp but the giant wakes up from his slumber and chases after Jack, who runs down the beanstalk, and cuts it with an axe, causing the giant to fall and die. This serves justice to the giant and also teaches Jack to always behave and listen to his mother.
Fairy Tale Title
Jack and the Beanstalk
Fairy Tale Author(s)/Editor(s)
None listed
Fairy Tale Illustrator(s)
None listed
Common Tale Type
Jack and the Beanstalk
Tale Classification
ATU 328A
Page Range of Tale
pp. 27-56
Full Citation of Tale
“Jack and the Beanstalk.” Fairy Tales in Easy Words, Springfield, MA: McLoughlin Brothers, Inc., [1923], pp. 27-56.
Original Source of the Tale
Traditional Oral Tale
Tale Notes
This tale is told in language easily understood by children, using almost exclusively one-syllable words, an conveys clear a clear moral instructing children to obey their parents. Longer words, such as moth-er, fai-ry, gi-ant, and cas-tle, are hyphenated into syllables to aid early readers. There are thirteen simple black-and-white images to supplement the storyline.
Research and Curation
Anonymous ITAL 4600 student, 2020
Book Title
Fairy Tales in Easy Words
Book Author/Editor(s)
None listed
Illustrator(s)
None listed
Publisher
McLoughlin Brothers, Inc.
Date Published
[1923]
Decade Published
1920-1929
Publisher City
Springfield, Massachusetts
Publisher Country
United States
Language
English
Rights
Public Domain
Digital Copy
Book Notes
None