Jack and the Seven Deadly Giants - Hardcover

Swope, Sam

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374336709 ISBN 13: 9780374336707

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 2004

Synopsis

A reinvention of a favorite folktale hero

Ever since he was abandoned on a miller's doorstep as a noisy infant, Jack's been saddled with the reputation of village bad boy. When real trouble arrives -- in the form of seven deadly giants roaming the countryside - Jack is blamed. "Bad attracts bad," the village preacher warns his frightened flock. Jack believes it, too. Worried that the village won't be safe unless he leaves, Jack sets off, never intending to battle the giants, but one by one, that's what happens. And in his surprising encounters with these seven truly bad seeds, Jack proves himself braver, smarter, and better than he ever suspected.

The author has found exactly the right youngster to defeat these overgrown manifestations of the seven traditional human failings (including Sloth, the would-be poet; the ever-incensed Mrs. Roth; and Avaritch, the greedy troglodyte), all of whom come roaring to life in striking pictures by Belgian Carll Cneut.

About this title

About the Author

Sam Swope is the author of three acclaimed picture books, The Araboolies of Liberty Street, The Krazees, and Gotta Go! Gotta Go!. He lives in New York City.

Carll Cneut has illustrated many picture books in Europe. He lives in Belgium.

Reviews

Grade 3-5-Jack, who was left as a baby on the miller's doorstep, has been dubbed a bad boy by the entire village. So it is not surprising that he is blamed when giants threaten the land. Feeling horrible about himself and wanting to keep the town from harm, he strikes out on his own. His kindness to a stranger yields him one wish. More than anything, Jack wants his mother. He is puzzled when a cow appears, but climbs onto her back, sitting "the wrong way round, so he could look at all the places he had been and be surprised by anyplace he got." As he travels, he meets and foils seven gruesome giants-creatures that personify the seven deadly sins-and cleverly uses each one's flaw to cause his or her defeat. When Jack does away with the mightily mean Green Queen, he unwittingly removes the spell that was long ago placed on his mother, and she changes from a cow back into a human. She assumes her rightful position as Queen, making him the Prince. Elements of traditional literature combine with sometimes over-the-top humor as the boy outwits each giant. For example, the Terrible Glutton lets loose with "a fart so huge that it- blew a crater in the ground, and knocked Jack off his feet." The outlandish tone is sometimes reminiscent of Roald Dahl's work. The plot details and use of language are often clever as the story comes full circle to its satisfying conclusion. Semi-abstract, black-and-white sketches punctuate the absurdity of the tale.
Maria B. Salvadore, formerly at District of Columbia Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Gr. 1-4. Within this slim, trim novel lies an inventive melange of "Jack the Giant Killer" and the Seven Deadly Sins. Jack is a foundling who finds himself an outcast. Accompanied by a surprisingly helpful cow, he roams the land, outsmarting such enormous creatures as Sloth, a giant would-be poet; Terrible Glutton, whom Jack convinces to eat himself; and two-headed Tickler, who sounds a bit like the low-IQ giants of Roald Dahl's The BFG. Swope's concise, graceful language is well matched by Cneut's wild illustrations, which have the same off-kilter spirit (albeit with none of the wonderful colors) as his acclaimed work in Malachy Doyle's picture book Antonio on the Other Side of the World, Getting Smaller (2003). Here, making the most of a much smaller page, he is similarly playful with scale and strange angles. The book's finale is satisfying and sweet: Jack gets the best life a boy could imagine--along with a big surprise that involves his faithful cow. Abby Nolan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0374336709
• ISBN 13: 9780374336707
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Cneut Carll
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 112