Jack and the Beanstalk: An English Fairy Tale

Summary

Jack and the Beanstalk is an English fairy tale, the best known of the “Jack tales”, a series of stories featuring an archetypal English hero. According to scholarly research, this particular tale takes its roots in ancient stories told more than 5000 years ago, in which a boy steals an ogre’s treasure. In this tale, Jack is a poor boy sent by his mother to the market to sell their dairy cow. He encounters a bean dealer who sells him magic beans; upon seeing him return with a few beans and no money, his mother is desperate, throws the beans on the ground and sends him to bed without supper. In the morning, they discover the beans have sprouted a fabulous beanstalk that would lead a climber to a land high in the sky… This classic tale is told by Katie Haigh, for the pleasure of children and adults alike.