A Bean, a Stalk and a Boy Named Jack: with audio recording

by William Joyce, Moonbot, William Joyce (Illustrator), Kenny Callicutt (Illustrator)

Overview

When a king’s pinky grows stinky, it is up to a smallish boy and a smallish pea to come up with a GIANT plan to save the kingdom—a fractured fairy tale from William Joyce and Moonbot Studios, the masterminds who brought you The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.

You might think you know the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, but you might want to think again. In this fairy tale with a twist, it hasn’t rained in days and the king has dictated that something must be done—his royal pinky is getting stinky! With a little magic from a wizard, young Jack, paired with his pea pod pal, will find a GIANT reason as to why there’s no water left in the kingdom...and prove that size doesn’t prevent anyone from doing something BIG.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442473508
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	10/07/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	56
Lexile:	AD480L (what's this?)
File size:	19 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

William Joyce does a lot of stuff but children’s books are his true bailiwick (The Guardians series, Dinosaur Bob series, George Shrinks, and the #1 New York Times bestselling The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, which is also his Academy Award–winning short film, to name a few). He lives in Shreveport, Louisiana. Talk to William Joyce and see upcoming work at @HeyBillJoyce on X (previously known as Twitter) and Instagram.

Moonbot Studios is a secret, zero-gravity colony in Shreveport, Louisiana, inhabited by interstellar beings. Their mission is to create imaginative books, films, apps, games, and entertainment in this—and any other—dimension. Come see at MoonbotStudios.com!

Kenny Callicutt is a tallish artist. He honed his illustration skills at Virginia Commonwealth University and, since 2012, has been drawing and magicking at Moonbot Studios. A Bean, a Stalk, and a Boy Named Jack is his picture book debut.

Editorial Reviews

Jack and the Beanstock take a wild new turn in this new picture book by the incredible William Joyce (The Numberlys; The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore) and his Moonbot Studios collaborators. In this exquisitely fractured version, the king pinky has become quite stinky. Corrective measures are required and Jack is Johnny on the spot to solve a drought and an odiferous ruler. Editor's recommendation.

09/01/2014
PreS-Gr 3—The latest addition to Joyce's series has a more tenuous connection to childhood legends than previous titles. Whether intended as a riff on "Jack and the Beanstalk" or as an entirely other creation, the book fails to amuse or engage. There are obvious connections to the folktale. There's a boy named Jack; a bean (which looks like a pea); a magical, prodigiously growing beanstalk; and a journey to a land of giants. There are also many elements not to be found in the old story: a king named King Blah Blah Blah and a princess named Princess Blah Blah Blah (just in case it's funnier the second time around). The king has a stinky pinky, and the giant whom Jack eventually encounters also has a stinky pinky (in case that's funnier the second time around). There's a redheaded bird with a black body who happens to be in every illustration for no discernible reason. These additions pad the book's length but don't add much substance to the narrative. The artwork—a collaboration between Joyce and newcomer Callicutt—is far superior to the text, particularly on the spreads. Expansive skies, strewn with mysterious cloud formations and the explosively burgeoning beanstalk have enough energy to spill off the pages. That's especially appropriate for a work that might actually be more successful as an interactive ebook.—Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Library, NY

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