Other editions of book Jack and the Beanstalk

A poor woman lives far from London in a cottage with her "indolent, careless, and extravagant" son, Jack. The two have little money and are forced to sell their last possession, a cow. Jack leads the animal along the road and meets an old man who trades some magic beans for the cow. Jack's mother is furious when she discovers he has come home with no money, and tosses the beans away. The next morning, Jack finds a beanstalk has grown to the clouds and climbs it... finally reaching a castle, high above the sky!

Jack is a young, poor boy living with his widowed mother and a dairy cow, on a farm cottage. The cow's milk was their only source of income. When the cow stops giving milk, Jack's mother tells him to take her to the market to be sold. On the way, Jack meets a bean dealer who offers magic beans in exchange for the cow, and Jack makes the trade. When he arrives home without any money, his mother becomes angry and disenchanted, throws the beans on the ground, and sends Jack to bed without dinner. Listen in to find out what happens next with the magic beans.

"Jack and the Beanstalk" is an English fairy tale. It appeared as "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 1734 and as Benjamin Tabart's moralised "The History of Jack and the Bean-Stalk" in 1807. Henry Cole, publishing under pen name Felix Summerly, popularised the tale in The Home Treasury (1845), and Joseph Jacobs rewrote it in English Fairy Tales (1890). Jacobs' version is most commonly reprinted today, and is believed to be closer to the oral versions than Tabart's because it lacks the moralising.

A poor woman lives far from London in a cottage with her "indolent, careless, and extravagant" son, Jack. The two have little money and are forced to sell their last possession, a cow. Jack leads the animal along the road and meets an old man who trades some magic beans for the cow. Jack’s mother is furious when she discovers he has come home with no money, and tosses the beans away. The next morning, Jack finds a beanstalk has grown to the clouds and climbs it... finally reaching a castle, high above the sky!

A poor woman lives far from London in a cottage with her "indolent, careless, and extravagant" son, Jack. The two have little money and are forced to sell their last possession, a cow. Jack leads the animal along the road and meets an old man who trades some magic beans for the cow. Jack’s mother is furious when she discovers he has come home with no money, and tosses the beans away. The next morning, Jack finds a beanstalk has grown to the clouds and climbs it... finally reaching a castle, high above the sky!

A poor woman lives far from London in a cottage with her "indolent, careless, and extravagant" son, Jack. The two have little money and are forced to sell their last possession, a cow. Jack leads the animal along the road and meets an old man who trades some magic beans for the cow. Jack’s mother is furious when she discovers he has come home with no money, and tosses the beans away. The next morning, Jack finds a beanstalk has grown to the clouds and climbs it... finally reaching a castle, high above the sky!