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Summary
Summary
For a giant, Otto is embarrassingly polite. While all the other giants are studying Cursing, Growling, and Stomping, Otto just wants to play with his pet hen, Clara. Then one terrible day a wily human named Jack climbs up a magic beanstalk and steals her away! Knowing only the thief's name, Otto must find Clara and rescue her from the land of fairy tales and nursery rhymes. The only problem is, there seem to be an awful lot of Jacks down there....
Diane Stanley, author and illustrator of goldie and the three bears and rumpelstiltskin's daughter, once again brings a fresh vision to a beloved story. Readers will delight in recognizing their favorite Jacks as Otto travels throughout the kingdom to find Clara. With great humor and beautiful illustrations, Diane Stanley creates a satisfying tale in which Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, and Otto all live happily ever after.Author Notes
Diane Stanley was born in 1943 and was raised in Abilene, Texas. She later attended both Trinity University and Johns Hopkins University.
Her portfolio of children's book illustrations was creative enough for her to begin publication in 1978. She became an art director for G.P. Putnam & Sons and later began retelling and illustrating classic children's books.
Stanley has revamped the fairy tale, Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter and has also researched the children's biographies Cleopatra and Leonardo Da Vinci. She also illustrated her mother's book, The Last Princess.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Stanley (Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter) once again cleverly contorts a familiar tale, here focusing not on Jack but on the giant from whom he purloins a beloved pet. Otto, a young giant with sharp teeth, beady eyes and claw-like nails, looks quite ferocious. Yet he is "embarrassingly polite" and selects as a pet a sweet hen named Clara-who just happens to lay golden eggs-instead of the fierce critters his parents and peers favor. Stanley thus allows youngsters to sympathize with Otto, who is understandably devastated when Jack appears seemingly out of nowhere, grabs Clara and disappears ("It was the single worst moment in Otto's life"). Otto shouts, "Fee, fi, fo, fum" because it's "the scariest thing he could remember from fourth-grade Threats and Curses." Though he suffers from vertigo, the determined giant discovers the beanstalk and pursues the thief. In a lively sequence, Otto searches a fairytale land of mountains and thatched-roof houses as he encounters, among others, a candlestick-jumping Jack, a Jack who tumbles down a hillside with his sister, Jill, and a lean Mr. Sprat grilling steak and celery. Full-bleed spreads of the nursery characters heighten the humor, and an inset angelic portrait of the giant, clipping his nails and donning a flower crown so as not to scare the townsfolk, will especially tickle youngsters. Not surprisingly, the story leads up to a felicitous finale, but the twists and turns readers takes along the way make this tale as original as Stanley fans have come to expect. Ages 5-8. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
In this retelling of +Jack and the Beanstalk,+ Stanley gives a gentle giant+s perspective on capturing the thief who stole his hen. While searching for robber Jack, the giant, who clips his long, sharp nails and wears a flower wreath, encounters other Jacks of nursery-rhyme fame (Jack Be Nimble, Jack Sprat). Stanley's lighthearted text and detailed art are a good match; readers will enjoy identifying the familiar characters. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Gr. 1-3. Everything happens in threes in the world of folklore, so it's only natural that Stanley should follow up her Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter 0 (1997) and Goldie and the Three Bears 0 (2003) with a third revisionist tale. Otto the giant is a tenderhearted fellow who keeps a hen for a pet. And that "fee-fi-fo-fum" thing? That's just "the scariest thing he could remember from fourth-grade Threats and Curses," which he blurts out in desperation when he catches Jack stealing his beloved hen. Otto follows Jack down the beanstalk, where his search leads him to numerous villagers named Jack--each of whom hails from a different nursery rhyme. The rhymes, which aren't always obvious, can be found at the end of the book. Finally, Otto catches up with the proper Jack and the pair work out a satisfactory trade. Although the blending of fractured fairy tale and nursery-rhyme seek-and-find feels a little clumsy , 0 Stanley injects her characteristic, understated humor into both text and art, and young ones will take pleasure in identifying the individual elements of the thoroughly mixed-up story. --Jennifer Mattson Copyright 2004 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-Despite his fearsome appearance, Otto, a young giant who lives in a magical kingdom high above the human world, is gentle and polite. When his beloved pet chicken is stolen by the human Jack, he descends the beanstalk to try and retrieve her. After being misdirected to every other nursery-rhyme Jack in town, Otto finally finds the culprit. The giant realizes that the boy only wanted to sell Clara so that he could retrieve his own lost pet, Milky White the cow, and the two find a way to retrieve their adored animals. All ends happily as the other giants recognize Otto's heroic qualities, and Jack and his mother open a roadside stand to sell soup mix, made, of course, from beans. While the sharp satire and social commentary that ran throughout Stanley's Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter (HarperCollins, 1997) are missing here, the point-of-view reversal is amusing and the plot and characters are nicely developed. The watercolor illustrations depict a cozy, bucolic fairy-tale world and are replete with humorous details. This is a worthy addition to the growing canon of fractured fairy tales.-Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Stanley has again managed an inspired spin on an old fairy tale, telling Jack and the Beanstalk from the not-so-fierce and much-teased giant Otto's point of view. (A mediocre student of curses and threats, he's chosen a common hen over a pet dragon.) Otto must swallow his fear of heights to save his kidnapped pet and buy back Jack's pet cow. But which Jack? One jumps over a candlestick; another rolls down a hill; a skinny third cooks with his plump wife and a young Jack messily eats a pie. The last Jack he encounters is busy building a house and happens to be the new owner of the cow. Otto buys her, finally finds the right Jack, and the two trade pets. Jack and his mother now earn a living selling bean-soup mix, and all the other giants wish to emulate Otto. Stanley's detailed illustrations will hit the mark with youngsters, who will search for clues as to which "Jack" the giant has met. The answers appear on the final page. A must for all fractured-fairytale collections. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
