It's Not About the Beanstalk! Read online

  Text copyright © 2013 by Veronika Martenova Charles

  Illustrations copyright © 2013 by David Parkins

  Published in Canada by Tundra Books, a division of Random House of Canada Limited,

  One Toronto Street, Suite 300, Toronto, Ontario M5C 2V6

  Published in the United States by Tundra Books of Northern New York,

  P.O. Box 1030, Plattsburgh, New York 12901

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2012945436

  All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the publisher – or, in case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency – is an infringement of the copyright law.

  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Charles, Veronika Martenova

  It’s not about the beanstalk! / Veronika Martenova Charles; illustrated by David Parkins.

  (Easy-to-read wonder tales)

  Short stories based on Jack and the beanstalk tales from around the world.

  eISBN: 978-1-77049-332-2

  1. Fairy tales. I. Parkins, David II. Title. III. Series: Charles, Veronika Martenova. Easy-to-read wonder tales.

  PS8555.H42242I83326 2013 jC813′.54 C2012-905312-0

  We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and that of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Ontario Book Initiative. We further acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program.

  Edited by Stacey Roderick

  www.tundrabooks.com

  v3.1

  CONTENTS

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  In the Yard Part 1

  The Bean Tree

  (Jack and the Beanstalk from Appalachia)

  Olaf and the Troll

  (Jack and the Beanstalk from Norway)

  Molly and the Giant

  (Jack and the Beanstalk from Scotland)

  In the Yard Part 2

  About the Stories

  IN THE YARD

  PART 1

  “Can Jake come out to play?”

  Lily and Ben asked Jake’s mother.

  “Sure,” she replied.

  “He’s in the backyard.”

  Jake was throwing a rope

  over a tree branch.

  “What are you doing?” asked Lily.

  “I want to climb up,” said Jake.

  “Maybe there’s a giant’s house

  where I’ll find a treasure.”

  “Oh,” said Ben.

  “Like in Jack and the Beanstalk.”

  “It wasn’t a beanstalk,” said Jake.

  “It was a bean tree!”

  “There’s no such thing,” said Lily.

  “Sure there is. Listen,” said Jake.

  THE BEAN TREE

  (Jack and the Beanstalk from Appalachia)

  One day, while Jack’s mother

  was sweeping up their cottage,

  Jack kept getting in her way.

  She picked up a bean from the floor

  and said, “Jack, go and plant this.”

  So Jack ran outside

  and planted it under his window.

  The next morning, he looked out.

  He couldn’t believe his eyes!

  The bean had grown into a tree

  so tall, Jack couldn’t see its top!

  I’ll climb that tree

  to see where it goes, he thought.

  He climbed up, up, and up

  until he reached the top.

  There he found a strange,

  desert-like land with sand dunes

  and cactus plants.

  He saw an old woman

  walking toward him.

  “Hello, Jack,” the woman said.

  “I’m your godmother,” she said.

  “It was me who made the bean grow.

  Did your mother ever tell you

  about your father?”

  “No,” replied Jack.

  “But she always gets sad

  when I ask about him.”

  “Your father was a good man,”

  the woman said.

  “He was killed by a giant

  who had stolen his treasure.

  Only you can get it back.”

  “What do I do?” asked Jack.

  “Keep on walking,” she replied,

  “and you’ll see the giant’s house.

  Just remember the word ‘water’!”

  So Jack walked until

  he came to a big mansion.

  It was surrounded

  by a wall of cactus plants.

  “Stop! What is the password?”

  asked the biggest cactus,

  as it raised its spiky arms.

  Suddenly, Jack remembered.

  “Water!” he called out.

  “You can pass,” the cactus said

  and let him through.

  A woman stood by the door.

  “May I stay the night?” asked Jack.

  “You better go back to where

  you came from,” the woman said.

  “My husband is a giant,

  and he eats humans.

  But I’ll hide you just for tonight.”

  And she hid Jack in the oven.

  That night, the giant came home.

  “FEE, FI, FO, FUM,” he roared.

  “I smell the blood of a human.”

  “Oh, dear,” said his wife,

  “you’re mistaken. It’s the lamb

  I cooked for your dinner.”

  After the giant had eaten,

  he called, “Bring me my hen!”

  His wife placed it on the table.

  “Lay!” ordered the giant, and

  the hen laid an egg of pure gold.

  That must be my father’s treasure!

  thought Jack.

  After the giant had amused himself,

  he fell asleep by the fireside.

  Jack crept out of the oven

  and picked up the hen.

  But just as he did, a little dog

  that Jack hadn’t seen before

  started to bark.

  The giant stirred.

  Jack saw a bone on the table

  and threw it to the dog.

  Then he grabbed the hen and ran.

  Soon he felt the ground shaking.

  The giant was chasing him!

  Jack reached the bean tree.

  He jumped on the trunk

  and slid down, down, down.

  Above him, the giant hollered.

  As Jack touched the ground,

  he yelled, “Mom! Bring the ax!”

  His mother came running

  and handed him the ax.

  Chop! Chop! Chop!

  Jack hit the tree hard.

  The tree started to lean.

  Then it crashed across the fields.

  BOOM!

  The giant fell to the ground

  and died.

  After it was all quiet,

  Jack told his mom what happened

  and gave her the magic hen.

  From then on, Jack and his mother

  never had to worry about a thing,

  and they lived happily.

  “I wonder what happened to

  the giant’s wife,” said Lily.

  “She was nice to Jack.”

  “She must ha
ve felt lonely

  when the giant didn’t come back,”

  said Jake. “But she didn’t like

  that he ate people.”

  “I know a story about a boy

  who took a treasure from a troll,”

  said Ben.

  “What’s a troll?” asked Jake.

  “It’s a kind of giant,” Ben replied.

  “I’ll tell you the story.”

  OLAF AND THE TROLL

  (Jack and the Beanstalk from Norway)

  Once there was a poor man

  who had three sons.

  When he died,

  the two older brothers

  decided to leave their home

  and look for work.

  “Can I come with you?”

  asked Olaf, the youngest one.

  “No!” his brothers told him.

  “You’re fit for nothing.

  You could never get a job.”

  Then the two set off

  and found work

  in the palace kitchen.

  After a while, Olaf set off, too,

  taking his father’s boat,

  which his brothers had left behind.

  Olaf also arrived at the palace

  and asked if they would hire him.

  At first, they didn’t want Olaf,

  but when he pleaded, they let him

  carry the water for the maid.

  Olaf was quick and friendly,

  and everybody liked him.

  His brothers noticed

  and grew very jealous of him.

  Just opposite the palace,

  across another lake,

  lived a troll

  who had seven silver ducks.

  Everybody knew

  that the king wanted them.

  The brothers told the cook,

  “Our brother, Olaf,

  said he could catch those ducks.”

  It wasn’t long before

  the king found out.

  The king sent for Olaf.

  “I’ve heard that you can get

  the silver ducks,” he told him.

  “Go now and fetch them!”

  Olaf couldn’t argue with the king.

  He asked for a bag of seeds

  and said he’d try his best.

  Olaf loaded the bag into his boat,

  and rowed across the lake.

  When he reached the other side,

  he sprinkled the seeds on the shore.

  As the ducks came near,

  Olaf caught them

  and put them in his boat.

  Quickly, he began to row back.

  When he was halfway there,

  the troll came out and roared,

  “Is that you who took my ducks?”

  “Yes!” Olaf called back.

  “Will you be back?”

  “Very likely!” answered Olaf.

  Olaf brought the ducks to the king,

  and the king was very pleased.

  “Well done!” he said.

  After that, Olaf was liked

  even more than before.

  His brothers grew more envious.

  Once again, they went to the cook

  and said, “Our brother told us

  he could get the golden harp

  that is heard when the wind blows

  across the lake.”

  The cook told others,

  and soon the king found out.

  The king called Olaf and said,

  “I hear that you can get

  that golden harp. Bring it to me!”

  Again Olaf rowed across the lake.

  But this time the troll caught him

  and took him to his cave.

  Olaf saw the golden harp

  leaning by the door.

  The troll called to his daughter,

  “Put this boy in a cage.

  Tomorrow you will roast him,

  while I invite some friends

  to the feast.”

  The next day, after the troll left,

  the daughter lit the fire

  and took out a knife.

  “Is that what you’re going to

  cut me with?” asked Olaf.

  “Yes, it is,” said the daughter.

  “But it isn’t sharp,” said Olaf.

  “Let me sharpen it for you.

  You’ll find it easier to work with.”

  The daughter opened the cage.

  Olaf came out, pushed her inside,

  and locked it.

  Then he grabbed the golden harp

  and ran to the shore with it.

  He jumped into his boat.

  Quickly, he rowed across the lake.

  Just then, the troll came back

  and saw Olaf on the water.

  “Hey!” he roared. “Is that you

  who took my silver ducks?”

  “Yes!” called Olaf.

  “And now you have taken my harp?”

  “Yes!” replied Olaf.

  “Didn’t my daughter roast you?”

  the troll screeched.

  “I guess not!” called Olaf.

  When the troll heard that,

  he was so angry, he burst!

  Olaf returned to the palace

  and gave the king the harp.

  The king made him his adviser.

  Olaf forgave his two brothers,

  and, grateful, their jealousy

  changed to admiration.

  “That reminds me of a story

  about a girl and her sisters,”

  said Lily. “She also had to get

  something from a giant

  and bring it to a king.”

  “What was it? Silver ducks?”

  asked Ben.

  “No,” replied Lily.

  “I’ll tell you the story.”

  MOLLY AND THE GIANT

  (Jack and the Beanstalk from Scotland)

  There was once a man

  who had many children

  but couldn’t feed them all.

  One day, he took the three youngest

  and left them in the woods.

  The children walked and walked

  until they came to a house.

  The youngest one, named Molly,

  knocked on the door.

  A woman answered and asked,

  “What do you want?”

  “Something to eat, please!”

  answered Molly.

  “Go away,” said the woman.

  “My husband is a giant.

  If he sees you, he’ll eat you!”

  “But we’re so tired,”

  said the other two girls.

  So the woman let them in and

  gave them each a piece of bread.

  They had just taken a bite

  when the giant came home.

  “Oh! What have we here?”

  the giant asked.

  “Three lost and tired girls,”

  said his wife.

  “I made you a big supper,

  so leave the girls to me.

  They will sleep here tonight.”

  Now, the giant had three daughters

  of his own, and his wife put

  all six girls into the same bed.

  The giant went to say good night.

  Pretending to play,

  he hung gold necklaces

  around his daughters’ necks.

  Then he put straw ropes

  around the necks

  of Molly and her sisters.

  How strange, thought Molly.

  When everyone was asleep,

  Molly crept across the bed

  and switched the necklaces.

  Now she and her sisters wore

  the gold ones, and the giant’s

  daughters wore the straw ropes.

  In the middle of the night,

  the giant came into the room

  and felt the girls’ necks.

  He plucked o
ut the girls with

  the straw ropes and

  carried them down to the cellar.

  “I’ll have them for breakfast,”

  he said to himself.

  As soon as it was quiet again,

  Molly woke up her sisters.

  “We must get out of here,”

  she whispered. “Right now!”

  The girls slipped out of the house

  and stumbled through the darkness.

  At sunrise, they came to a canyon.

  Far below, a river ran wildly.

  There was a long strand of hair

  spanning it like a bridge.

  “We have to cross,”

  said Molly to her sisters.

  “But how can we?” they asked.

  “Let me try first,” said Molly.

  She climbed up,

  balanced herself, and walked.

  “We can do it! The hair is magic!”

  Molly shouted to her sisters.

  She helped each of them across.

  On the other side of the canyon

  stood a big castle

  that belonged to a king.

  Molly went in

  and told the king her story.

  “You’re very brave,” the king said.

  “That giant stole my father’s sword.

  If you bring it back to me,

  I’ll reward you with a house

  and all the food you want.”

  “I’ll try,” said Molly.

  She returned to the giant’s house,

  and at night she sneaked inside.

  The sword hung by the giant’s bed.

  Slowly, Molly took it off.

  CLANG! The sword fell down.

  “Now I’ve got you!” the giant roared.

  “Tell me, girl, if I were you,

  how would you punish me?”

  “I would put you in a sack and

  hang you on the wall,” said Molly.

  “Then I’d cut a stick in the woods,

  come back, and beat you to a jelly.”

  “Well,” laughed the giant,

  “that’s exactly what I’ll do to you.”

  He put Molly into a sack

  and went out to find a stick.

  Molly started singing,

  If you could see what I see!