Jack and the Baked Beanstalk by Colin Stimpson - review

There was plenty of laughter while reading this modern retelling of a classic fairytale, "'a beanstalk with cans of baked beans!,' how funny", said Bryn. The story starts with Jack and his mum running a successful burger van, but their fortunes are reversed when a new flyover diverts their customers. As in the traditional tale Jack is entrusted with their "last few pennies". With a self-referring nod to the story Jack knows choosing the "magic baked beans" will lead to adventure. Like all good fairy tales this has a happy ending but with a few twists and turns on the journey down the beanstalk. Bryn was very tickled by the nice giant with a love of cooking although he would have preferred him to be "eating people and grinding bones to make his bread". He also liked the illustrations, especially the giants smart attire. I felt the luxurious style of illustration and multi-layered story gave this book a cinematic quality. The drawings also captured the scale of the story and my favourite spread was of the giant & Jack sharing a large plate of food. A fun rich read with both style and substance.