Jack and the Beanstalk

Listen to “Jack and the Beanstalk” on Spreaker.

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Jack who lived with his mother in a small cottage. They were very poor and had nothing left to eat. The only thing they owned was a cow named Daisy, who gave them milk. One day, the cow stopped giving milk, and Jack’s mother told him, “Jack, take Daisy to the market and sell her so we can buy food.”

Jack set off to the market, leading Daisy. On the way, he met a strange man who looked at Daisy and said, “I’ll trade you these five magic beans for your cow. Plant them, and you’ll see something amazing!” Jack thought for a moment. The beans did seem special, and the man seemed so sure, so Jack made the trade and went home with the beans instead of money.

When Jack’s mother saw what he had done, she was very angry. “You traded our cow for beans? How could you?” she shouted. She was so upset that she threw the beans out of the window. Jack felt sad, and he went to bed hungry that night.

The next morning, Jack woke up and looked out of the window. To his amazement, a gigantic beanstalk had grown overnight! It reached so high that it disappeared into the clouds. Curious and excited, Jack decided to climb the beanstalk. He climbed and climbed, higher and higher, until he reached the top, where he found a strange land and a huge castle.

Jack walked up to the castle and, feeling brave, he went inside. Everything was enormous—way bigger than anything Jack had ever seen! Suddenly, Jack heard a loud voice: “Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman!” It was a giant! Jack quickly hid behind a big chair, trembling with fear.

The giant sat down at his table and began to eat. When he finished, he called for his magical hen, which laid golden eggs. “Lay!” commanded the giant, and the hen laid a shiny golden egg. Then the giant took out his magical harp that played beautiful music all by itself. As the harp played, the giant fell asleep.

Seeing his chance, Jack snuck out from behind the chair and quietly grabbed the hen and the harp. But as he tried to leave, the harp suddenly cried out, “Master! Master! Help!” The giant woke up with a start and saw Jack running away with his treasures. Furious, the giant began to chase him.

Jack ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He reached the beanstalk and quickly started climbing down. The giant followed him, roaring with anger, shaking the beanstalk as he climbed. Jack could hear the giant getting closer, so he shouted to his mother, “Mother! Get an axe! Quick!”

His mother rushed out with an axe, and when Jack reached the bottom, he began to chop down the beanstalk. He chopped and chopped until finally, the beanstalk began to fall. The giant, who was still climbing down, came crashing to the ground with a loud thud, and that was the end of him.

With the hen that laid golden eggs and the magical harp, Jack and his mother were no longer poor. They had plenty of food, money, and music, and they lived happily ever after.

The End. 

Follow-up questions:

• Why do you think the strange man wanted to give Jack the magic beans?
• How did Jack feel when he was climbing the beanstalk for the first time, and what would you feel in his place?
• What would you do if you had a hen that laid golden eggs?