A Bean, a Stalk, and a Boy Named Jack

August 18, 2014
Joyce (The Numberlys) dispenses with the scarier parts of Jack and the Beanstalk (no “Fee fi fo fum” here), stringing old and new elements together with chatty narration and dialogue. In this version, there’s a drought in the kingdom where Jack lives, a special problem for the royal court: “The king’s royal pinky had become stinky.” Joyce and newcomer
Callicutt give their cast rounded heads that make them resemble Playmobil figures, including the bearded wizard whose ultralong beard deposits a talking bean
in Jack’s hand. “Hey, I’m a smallish magic bean,” the bean says. “Hey, I’m a smallish regular kid,” says Jack. The beanstalk leads to a “smallish giant kid named Don” whose overlong bath is responsible for the drought (“So Don...” “Yeah, Jack?” “Been in the tub long?”). Fast pacing and fresh visuals provide continuous laughs and entertainment as Joyce and Callicut drive home a lighthearted message that smallish kids (and beans) can bring about big change. As a bonus, the ending suggests that additional fairy-tale reimaginings could be in store—here’s hoping. Ages 3–6. Agent: Michael Siegel, Michael Siegel & Associates.

August 1, 2014
Moonbot Studios collaborators Joyce and Callicutt royally fracture the familiar folk tale in this high-concept romp. A cheeky narration, played for laughs, introduces a "smallish kid with the smallish name of Jack" in a drought-stricken kingdom. When the king, dirty as anyone, demands his subjects cry enough tears to wash his "stinky" pinky toe, the embarrassed young princess implores the "local old wizard guy" to "PAH-LEEZE, do something magical." The wizard reads, thinks, draws, does some math and magic-and zaps a bean (who's then able to verbalize its own planting instructions) off to Jack. The resultant vine's so thick it dominates a double-page spread. Jack, climbing with Bean (now a pod-no botany lesson here), encounters a "smallish giant kid named Don" taking a leisurely bath. When bath and visit end, Jack returns via tub drain. Joyce and Callicutt's accomplished multimedia visuals show ensuing waterfalls (which render the king's pinky "unstinky") and rainfall, lubricating the kingdom once more. The pictures are both epic (see the tub's prodigious plumbing) and infused with minutiae: A talismanic redheaded bird accompanies Jack throughout. Bean's word balloons are leaf-shaped; Jack's, like his shepherd's staff. In some sly concluding business, Jack invites the princess ("you can call me Jill") up the hill to fetch water for thirsty Bean. "The End...sorta." Engrossing illustrations and quirky humor, hitched to Joyce's renown, will earn this its audience. (Picture book. 4-8)

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September 1, 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

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2014
Preschool-G A little bean emerges from a little pod. Meanwhile, a smallish kid named Jack keeps a cow on the family farm. But the kingdom is experiencing a drought, and King Blah Blah Blah diverts the only water, his subjects' tears, to washhis little finger. Princess Blah Blah Blah contacts a local wizard, who zaps Jack's bean, and magic is afoot. The bean is planted, a stalk grows, and Jack and the princess ascend to meet a little boy giant, Don, who donates his bathwater to the cause. The kingdom newly drenched, Jack and the princess, now calling herself Jill, fetch a pail and that's the end . . . sorta. Joyce and Callicutt, working together in seamless mixed media, achieve a cinematic background, with expansive, bleed-edge compositions over low horizons, on which the sprightly characters ply their magic. Dramatic spreads alternate with occasional white pages of minimal text, maintaining a crisp, fabulous pace. Children who know Jack, and children meeting him for the first time, will enjoy this brisk, bubbly, spirited outing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2015
The story of "Jack and the Beanstalk" gets a quirky update in this hefty picture book, wherein Jack traces a drought in the kingdom to a young giant's prolonged bath time. Joyce's rhythmic cadence is perfectly complemented by epic multimedia art, which combines realistically rendered backgrounds and objects with doll-like characters to create an inviting fairy-tale world.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)