Jack is caught in a rain storm and seeks shelter in a farmhouse. When the door of the farmhouse open, Jack is greeted by three giants. They feeds him mush, and give him a place to stay the night. Jack knew something suspicious was happening so he tricked them into thinking he was laying in the sack and sure enough when the giants thought he was asleep they clubbed the sack where Jack would have been laying. The next morning Jack wakes up acting oblivious to the situation to trick them and the Giants believed he is witched so they make him complete different tasks to prove he is not or else he was as good as breakfast. Jack out smarted them with every task, avoiding becoming food for the giants. ( )

Jack Outwits the Giants is about a young boy who, as the title says, outsmarts the giants. Young Jack was caught walking in a bad rain storm and rain to the nearest house for shelter. He knocked on the door to it only being open by a giant women. Jack knew he was in trouble when her giant husband walked in with two scary looking heads. The whole book is about how Jack does things to outwit the giants so he does not get eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Thankfully, Jack is a very clever boy! The style in this book is creative. The language is sometimes hard to understand. The dialect did not work well for me but I could figure out what the author was trying to say. The theme of the story for me: Do what you have to do to survive. I believe children would love this book because it has funny moments and the illustrations in the story are done well. Although I did struggle a little bit with the dialect, I thoroughly liked the book. ( )

There was a lot of overkill in this book. The author tried to use a certain dialect, but they did not use it well. I had to stop and translate many of the sentences into something logical and coherent before I could move on. I did not like this book because of it.

Some of the plot did not make sense. Jack gets caught in the rain and the giant woman lets him in and makes him food. Then her husband shows up and complains that all she ever cooks is that food. He is bored with it. They give Jack a place to sleep and formulate a plan to kill and eat him. They try to kill him, but Jack gets away, so they think he is bewitched and they want him to prove that he is or they will eat him. It just didn’t make since that they went from basically eating oatmeal to wanting to become cannibals. Cannibalism seems to be a running theme in children’s books, which is a bit disturbing.

Jack manages to trick them into getting in a well and he chops the rope so that they fall forever. Happy ever after.

They plot was interesting but I was not pleased with the writing. It was too confusing and abrupt.
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Young Reader Reaction: This adaptation is most striking because of how it immerses the story in Appalachian culture. Words like "mud-fence ugly" and "busted up chairs" are particular to the region and do a lot to change the flavor of the setting and the characters. The illustrations are true to Appalachian imagery, too. The exploits in this version are like the original Jack tale and defy believability, especially the creek example. But the giants are faithful to the stereotype of stupidity. The feel of the story, despite the violence and threat, is acceptable to children, particularly due to Jack's innocent appearance and his dog's presence in every illustration. I would recommend this book, but would warn young readers that not all giants are as foolish as they are depicted, and that sometimes lies like the ones Jack says can backfire.

Pros: This version of the well-known Jack and the Beanstalk story immerses readers in Appalachian culture.

Cons: This story, like the original, does have violent elements that are accentuated with the dark colors of the book.

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Poor Jack was out in the rain, and he was glad to see a house up ahead. Maybe they would take him in out of the rain for the night. When he knocked on the door a giant woman answered, and she told him to come in out of the rain. Her two-headed husband comes home and discovers Jack in the kitchen, He get to thinking he would like to eat Jack for breakfast. Jack needs to think of a way to outsmart these giants or he is going to be breakfast. Lucky for Jack he is a very clever boy! ( )