Jack and the bean-stalk

“Jack and the Bean-stalk.” The Book of Fables and Folk Stories, Horace Elisha Scudder, Boston: Houghton Mifflin; 1919, pp. 41-55.

Tale Summary In the days of King Alfred, in a country village in England, there was a poor woman who had a single son named Jack. She never set him to work, and eventually they were so poor, that they only had their cow left. Jack felt badly that he...

Jack and the Beanstalk

“The History of Jack and the Beanstalk” George Cruikshank’s Fairy Library, George Cruikshank, London: Routledge and Sons, [1870s], pp. 1-32.

Tale Summary Jack, his mother, and his sister Ady lived in a valley far away from London rimmed with waterfalls. Jack was an unruly boy and refused to listen to anything his mother told him and was incredibly spoiled despite being from a poor family. Danish pirates attacked the town...

Screenshot of the first page of the tale, text only.

“Jack and the Beanstalk.” English Fairy and Other Folk Tales, edited by Edwin Sidney Hartland, London: The Walter Scott Publishing Co., LTD, [1890], pp. 35-44

Tale Summary Jack and his mother were poor had to sell the cow because she had nothing left to sell. Jack never helped her and only expressed hunger. He sells the cow to the old man in exchange for beans, but Jack did not know the beans were magical. The...

Jack and the Beanstalk

“Jack and the Beanstalk.” Fairy Tales in Easy Words, Springfield, MA: McLoughlin Brothers, Inc., [1923], pp. 27-56.

Tale Summary The story begins with a widow and her son, Jack, who are poor and need to sell their cow for money. Jack takes the cow into town and is offered magic beans in exchange for it. When his mother sees he’s brought home beans instead of money, she...