Book Review: The Tale of Jack and the Fallen Giants by J. Pageau et al.

The Tale of Jack and the Fallen Giants written by Jonathan Pageau and illustrated by Eloise Scherrer

The classic tale of Jack and the Beanstalk is reimagined by Jonathan Pageau in a beautifully illustrated and bound volume. The story has the familiar beats--Jack and his mother are starving in a small house with only a cow for milk. Mother sends Jack to town to sell the cow so they don't starve. He runs into an old man who claims to have magic beans and tricks Jack into trading the cow for the beans. His upset mother tosses them out the window when Jack tries to explain. He accepts that he has been duped but the next morning a giant beanstalk reaches into the sky. Jack decides to climb it, having fantastic adventures that restore the fortunes of his small family.

The book follows the same formula as the previous fairy tale, The Tale of Snow White and the Widow Queen, both returning to the main folkloric story and adding some details and twists to give it a richer meaning and some visual grandeur. The exciting surface story holds a deeper meaning that is not too far down or too obscure to miss. The meaning is a little more buried here but will worth the effort to unearth.

Recommended, highly if you, like me, enjoyed the first volume.