Charles, Veronika Martenova. It's Not about the Beanstalk! New York: Tundra Books, 2013.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in ebook or paperback.

NOVEL: More first books for fledgling readers that offer the enjoyment of a good story with the thrill of accomplishment that comes from independent reading. Written in short, easy phrases with carefully selected vocabulary and plentiful illustrations, each book helps youngsters achieve success as they have fun.

The series follows three friends who love to share stories. In each book, one is reminded of a well-known story. As one friend starts his story, the others are reminded of versions they know so each volume has three stories within one framework. The stories come from around the world, and Veronika Martenova Charles provides a note at the end of each book to describe the origins.

De Lint, Charles. Jack of Kinrowan. Dutton Books, 1995.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

NOVEL: This is actually a compliation of De Lint's novels, Jack the Giant Killer (1987) and Drink Down the Moon (1990). Jack is Jacky Rowan, a female protagonist. She is the trickster hero destined to save the Elven Courts from evil.

Doherty, Berlie. The Famous Adventures of Jack. New York: Greenwillow, 2001.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.

NOVEL: Card catalog description: "In a magical land of giants and castles and beautiful princesses, Jill hears several tales about characters named Jack, then embarks on a fairy tale adventure of her own."

Gerrold, David. Jumping Off the Planet. New York: Tor, 2000.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.

NOVEL: Science Fiction: From the publisher: "A trip to the Moon? Sounds like the perfect family vacation. Only for 13-year-old Charles "Chigger" Dingillian his family is anything but perfect. His parents fight so much they put the 'dis' into dysfunctional. So when he and his brothers find themselves halfway to the Moon Chigger hits on a plan: if his parents can't find a way to work things out, why not just divorce them? Sound crazy? Until it works. Charles and his brothers are on their own. But their bid for freedom hits a roadblock when Chigger suspects they are targets of an interstellar manhunt. What do these Big Corporations want? And why? Their only hope is to jump off the planet..."

Gidwitz, Adam. In a Glass Grimmly. New York: Dutton Juvenile, 2012.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in ebook or hardcover or paperback.

NOVEL: More Grimm tales await in the harrowing, hilarious companion to a beloved new classic Take caution ahead-- Oversize plant life, eerie amphibious royalty, and fear-inducing creatures abound. Lest you enter with dread. Follow Jack and Jill as they enter startling new landscapes that may (or may not) be scary, bloody, terrifying, and altogether true. Step lively, dear reader . . . Happily ever after isn't cutting it anymore. In this companion novel to Adam Gidwitz's widely acclaimed, award-winning debut, A Tale Dark & Grimm, Jack and Jill explore a new set of tales from the Brothers Grimm and others, including Jack and the Beanstalk, The Emperor's New Clothes, and The Frog Prince.

Goodheart, Pippa. Molly and the Beanstalk. New York: Heinemann Educational, 2001.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.

NOVEL: Science Fiction: From the publisher: "A trip to the Moon? Sounds like the perfect family vacation. Only for 13-year-old Charle

McBain, Ed. Jack and the Beanstalk. New York: Henry Holt, 1984.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.

NOVEL: Mystery: Part of McBain's Matthew Hope series.

Napoli, Donna Jo. Crazy Jack. New York: Delacorte, 1999.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.

NOVEL: From Amazon.com: Once there was a boy named Jack who traded away a cow for a handful of beans. But Jack was no fool, he was haunted since the day his father climbed up into the clouds and vanished. When the beans provide a way for Jack to pursue his father, he enters the Giant’s world, where he discovers the terrifying ends of greed and desire. In Donna Jo Napoli’s transforming novel, Jack’s search for his father yields not gold, but sustenance, love, and the means to build a life.

Rackham, John. Beanstalk. New York: DAW, 1973.

NOVEL: Science Fiction: From the back cover: "Behind every folktale there is a true story and behind every legend a lost fact of history, distorted by word of mouth of people who did not understand what was really happening. In the case of the infiltration of the highly strategic space station upon which the battle between the Salviar Federation and the Hilax Combine pivoted, the account of Earth's role in the affair has become greatly distorted. Because that was eight hundred years ago and the men of Olde England never even knew the world was round, let alone that it was a planet. Earth still doesn't know which side we were on and because we are out on a far limb of Galactic Sector Seven they haven't contacted us yet. But our very position in the Milky Way just that once made our little planet strategic - and when Salviar's scout Jasar-am-Bax had to enlist the aid of a clever young yeoman to launch his kamikaze attack the result became legend. But it took John Rackham to uncover the real story behind the event. It's all in BEANSTALK - it just depends on how you look at it."

Swope, Sam. Jack and the Seven Deadly Giants. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover.

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Poetry

Carryl, Guy Wetmore. "How Jack Found that Beans May Go Back On a Chap." Grimm Tales Made Gay. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1902.

Read the poem on this site at How Jack Found that Beans May Go Back On a Chap.

Carryl, Guy Wetmore. "How Jack Made the Giants Uncommonly Sore." Grimm Tales Made Gay. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1902.

Read the poem on this site at How Jack Made the Giants Uncommonly Sore.

Dacey, Philip. "Jack, Afterwards." Real Things: An Anthology of Popular Culture in American Poetry. Jim Elledge, editor. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999.

Dahl, Roald. "Jack and the Beanstalk." Revolting Rhymes. New York: Puffin Books, 1982.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.

Hay, Sara Henderson. "Story Hour." Story Hour. Fayetteville, AS: University of Arkansas Press, 1998.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.

Hewitt, John. "First Pantomime."The Collected Poems of John Hewitt. Frank Ormsby, editor. Belfast: Blackstaff Press, 2000.

Jarrell, Randall. "Jack." The Complete Poems. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1969; repr. 1989.

Joseph, Jenny. "Fables: Jack and the Beanstalk." Selected Poems. Highgreen Tarset Northumberland: Bloodaxe Books, 1992.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

"Jack and the Beanstalk" is a selection from the longer poem, "Fables."

Millay, Edna St. Vincent. "The Bean-Stalk." Collected Poems. New York: Harper and Row, 1956.

Read the poem on this site at The Bean-Stalk.

Prunty, Wyatt. "Annals of Jack." Unarmed and Dangerous: New and Selected Poems. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2000.

Riley, James Whitcomb. "Jack the Giant-Killer."

Read the poem on this site at Jack the Giant-Killer.

Rosen, Kenneth. "Jack and the Beanstalk." New American Poets of the 80s. Key West, FL: Wampeter Press, 1984.

Sansom, Clive. "Prize Bean." Return to Magic. London: Leslie Frewin, 1969.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover.

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Music

I have listed primarily classical compositions of music using the themes of this fairy tale in either ballet, opera or some other musical style. I have also provided links to popular recordings of the music when available at Amazon.com. The advantage to these links is that you can listen to samples of the music at no charge.

Stephen Sondheim. Into The Woods.

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Film

To learn more about these films, please visit the
Internet Movie Database.

Jack and the Beanstalk (1922). Walt Disney, director.

ANIMATION SHORT: An early Disney foray into fairy tale animation.

Jack and the Beanstalk (1931). Dave Fleischer, director.
Buy the movie on VHS.

ANIMATION SHORT: A Betty Boop interpretation of Jack and the Beanstalk. A differently-drawn Bimbo, incensed at trash dropped from the clouds, climbs his beanstalk to find not only the giant but also his slave (Betty Boop with dog's ears).

Giantland (1933). Burt Gillett, director. Walt Disney, producer.
Buy the movie on DVD.

Black and white animated version of Jack and the Beanstalk featuring Mickey Mouse. Not to be confused with Mickey and the Beanstalk which came in 1947. "Mickey's orphans ask for a story; Mickey casts himself as Jack in Jack and the Beanstalk. He starts with the climbing of the beanstalk; after evading the giant a few times, he ends up inside a cheese sandwich, and then in the giant's mouth, where he ultimately grabs onto a pipe and gets pulled out by the giant. In the ensuing chase, Mickey launches a pepper bomb to slow the giant down, then outruns him coming down the beanstalk and sets the stalk on fire." (IMDB.com)

Jack and the Beanstalk (1933). Shamus Culhane and Ub Iwerks, directors.
Buy the movie on VHS. or Buy the movie on DVD.

ANIMATION SHORT: Early animated short contemporary with Walt Disney.

Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk (1942). Friz Freleng, director.
Buy the movie on VHS.

ANIMATION SHORT: Bugs Bunny stars in this adaptation of the story. ?Bugs fights the legendary giant. In the historical context of World War II much fun is made of the giant's claimed superiority over the more clever and fun-loving rabbit." (IMDB.com)

Foney Fables (1942). Friz Freleng, director.

Cast:
Sara Berner .... Mother (uncredited) (voice)
Mel Blanc .... Baby, Boy who cried Wolf, Dog (uncredited) (voice)
Frank Graham .... Narrator (uncredited)

ANIMATED SHORT: A series of fractured fairy tales vignettes perhaps best remembered for Mel Blanc's vocal appearance. "Within the Book of Fairy Tales, we find much-loved stories like these: Sleeping Beauty (chewed out by Prince Charming for sleeping in), Tom Thumb, the Grasshopper and the Ant (the grasshopper can afford to be lazy because he has war bonds), the Boy Who Cried Wolf, Jack and the Beanstalk, the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing ("the fifth columnist of his day"), Aladdin and His Lamp, the Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs (only they're aluminum for the war effort), Old Mother Hubbard (but her cupboard isn't bare; she's a "food hoarder"!), and This Little Piggy." (IMDB.com)

Ration Fer the Duration (1943). Seymour Kneitel, director.

ANIMATION SHORT: Popeye tries his hand at interpreting the story and supporting the war effort. Don't miss another Popeye with the Beanstalk in 1951. "Popeye's planting a victory garden while his nephews are collecting worms for fishing. He berates them for wasting time, and tells them the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, which inspires them to plant beans. Popeye falls asleep, and dreams up a giant beanstalk. His nephews talk him into climbing to the top. Inside the giant's castle, Popee hides in the cuckoo clock and spots the giant hoarding sugar instead of gold; his hen lays tires, and his storehouses are full of other goods that were rationed in World War II. Popeye tries to walk out with a stack of tires, but the giant stops him, ultimately swatting him with a fly swatter and making him into a sandwich; the giant sprinkles Popeye with pepper, delaying the inevitable spinach briefly. Popeye defeats the giant, and gets him to sneeze all his tires into a carpet. Popeye wakes up, and the victory garden sprouts CANtaloupes (cans), POTatoes (pots), squashes (squashed tires), peaches (good tires), and finally a shoe tree right under the cast." (IMDB.com)

Mickey and the Beanstalk in Fun and Fancy Free (1947). Walt Disney, producer.
Buy the movie on DVD. or Buy the movie on VHS.

Includes the Disney version of fairy tale "Jack and the Beanstalk", featuring Mickey, Donald and Goofy in the main roles. This is the last film in which Walt Disney provided Mickey's voice.

Woody, the Giant Killer (1947). Dick Lundy, director

ANIMATION SHORT: "Out of work, Woody Woodpecker complains about his not having any living quarters. A slick talking con man convinces him to buy some "magic beans" promising they will guarantee him a home. Sure enough, Woody climbs the resulting beanstalk and finds a huge castle at the top. Unfortunately, the castle is already occupied by a sleeping giant who Woody eventually outwits, turning his castle into a series of apartments with the giant as a bellboy and Woody as his manager." (IMDB.com)

Let's Stalk Spinach (1951). Seymour Kneitel, director.

ANIMATION SHORT: Once again, after a 1943 short, Popeye tries his hand at interpreting the story. "Popeye's nephews don't want to eat their spinach, so Popeye tells them about his youth, before he liked spinach. In a Jack and the beanstalk scenario, he climbs a spinach-stalk and encounters a greedy giant. He ultimately vanquishes the giant with help from spinach that he accidentally eats from a giant can, and the nephews chow down on their sandwiches." (IMDB.com)

Jack and the Beanstalk (1952). Jean Yarbrough, director.
Buy the movie on DVD. or Buy the movie on VHS.

Cast:
Bud Abbott .... Mr. Dinkel/Mr. Dinkelpuss
Lou Costello .... Jack
Buddy Baer .... Sgt. Riley/The Giant

Abbott & Costello movie with themes from the fairy tale.

Goo Goo Goliath (1954). Friz Freleng, director.

ANIMATION SHORT: "An inebriated stork must deliver a baby to a giant at the top of a beanstalk, but doesn't feel like flying that high and instead delivers the baby to a normal-sized couple, who try to raise the giant tot as their own."(IMDB.com)

Beanstalk Bunny (1955). Chuck Jones, director.

ANIMATION SHORT: When a beanstalk sprouts from a rabbit hole, Jack (Daffy Duck) climbs it. So does Bugs Bunny since his bed went up with the beanstalk. Elmer, of course, is the mean Giant.

Jack and the Beanstalk (1955). Lotte Reiniger, director. UK. Also known as: Jack the Giant Killer.

SILHOUETTE ANIMATION SHORT: Lotte Reiniger is historically important as an early animator, specializing in shadow puppet animation, also known as silhouette animation. She was arguably the best talent in this particular craft. She started in silent films while living in Germany and continued producing shorts for over 40 years, primarily in the UK. For more information, read this article by William Moritz published by Animation World Magazine:
http://www.awn.com/mag/issue1.3/articles/moritz1.3.html

Tweety and the Beanstalk (1957). Friz Freleng, director.

ANIMATION SHORT: "Jack's mother throws Jack's magic beans outside under Sylvester Cat's sleeping box, and the cat is whisked to the world above, where he finds a huge Tweety Bird in the castle of the legendary Giant. When he tries to snag Tweety, Sylvester is chased by the Giant down the beanstalk. Sylvester chops down the stalk while the giant is still descending. The Giant falls on top of Sylvester with such force that Sylvester is shot through the Earth to the Orient." (IMDB.com)

Fractured Fairy Tales: Fee Fi Fo Fum (1959-60) (TV). In Rocky and Bullwinkle. Jay Ward Productions.
Buy the collection on DVD.

ANIMATION SHORT: The Fractured Fairy Tales segment became a popular part of the first season of the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show (known under various names through the years) that premiered in the fall of 1959. They have remained in syndication ever since. Fee Fi Fo Fum originally aired in Episode 5 of Season 1.

Jack the Giant Killer (1962). Nathan Juran, director.
Buy the movie on DVD.

Cast:
Kerwin Mathews .... Jack
Judi Meredith .... Princess Elaine
Torin Thatcher .... Pendragon
Walter Burke .... Garna

There is much debate over which version is better/worse--the original release of this film or the dubbed musical version of it. A campy classic either way.

Jack and the Beanstalk (1967) (TV). Gene Kelly, director.

Cast:
Gene Kelly .... Jeremy Keen, Proprietor (Peddler)
Bobby Riha .... Jack
Ted Cassidy .... The giant
Marian McKnight .... Jack's Mother

LIVE ACTION WITH ANIMATION FILM: Musical version of the story mixing animated characters with live actors.

Shonen Jakko to mahotsukai (1967). Gisaburo Sugii, director. Japan. USA Title: Jack and the Beanstalk.

ANIMATED FILM: A Japanese animation version of the tale.

Jack and the Beanstalk (1970). Barry Mahon, director.
Buy the collection on DVD.

Cast:
Mitch Poulos .... Jack

A kiddie matinee. Jack and the Beanstalk comes to life when "Honest John, Used Cow Salesman" trades Jack's cow for some magical beans that grow into a sky-high stalk, carrying singing Jack up to a castle in the clouds complete with a "Fee-Fi-Fo-Fumming" giant and a mechanical hen that lays golden eggs.

Jack to mame no ki (1974). Gisaburo Sugii, director. Japan. USA Title: Jack and the Beanstalk.

ANIMATED FILM: A Japanese animation version of the tale.

Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre: Jack and the Beanstalk (1983) (TV).
Amazon.com: Buy the series on DVD.

Cast:
Dennis Christopher ... Jack
Elliott Gould ... Giant
Jean Stapleton ... Giantess
Katherine Helmond ... Jack's Mom

This television series originally aired on Showtime for six seasons and a total of 27 episodes. To see a full episode list, go to Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre.

The 10th Kingdom (2000) (TV). David Carson and Herbert Wise, directors.
Buy the movie on VHS. or Buy the movie on DVD.

Cast:
Kimberly Williams .... Virginia Lewis
Scott Cohen .... Wolf
John Larroquette .... Antony 'Tony' Lewis
Dianne Wiest .... The Evil Queen/Christine Lewis
Camryn Manheim .... Snow White
Ann-Margret .... Queen Cinderella

This epic 10-hour miniseries was a ratings bust on television Kimberly Williams is Virginia, a waitress who still lives with her janitor father (John Larroquette) and yearns for something exciting to happen to her. Her wish comes true when she and her father are transported from New York City into the nine kingdoms populated by characters from fairy tales of yore. They team up with a dog who's really a prince--Wendell, grandson of Snow White--changed into canine form by the evil Queen (Dianne Wiest), who plots to usurp Wendell's throne. Father, daughter, and his royal dogness are relentlessly pursued through the nine kingdoms by the Troll King (Ed O'Neill) and his three bumbling and horrible children, and the conflicted Wolf (Scott Cohen), who is allied with the Queen but tames his inner beast and falls in love with Virginia. The 10th Kingdom is a special effects extravaganza. There is indeed, as one character marvels, magic to behold here. But despite the Hallmark brand name and the presence of a grown-up Snow White (Camryn Manheim) and Cinderella (Ann-Margret), bewitched animals, magic mirrors, and trolls, this is not kid's stuff. It can get scary, surprisingly violent, and quite intense; you know, just like real fairy tales.

Jack and the Beanstalk (2001) (TV). Brian Henson, director.
Buy the movie on DVD. or Buy the movie on VHS.

Cast:
Matthew Modine .... Jack Robinson (Johnathan William Duncan Robinson)
Vanessa Redgrave .... Countess Wilhelmina, Matriarch/Narrator
Mia Sara .... Ondine
Daryl Hannah .... Thespee, Member Great Council of Mac Slec
Jon Voight .... Siggy (Sigfried Mannheim), Overseas Div. Director for Robinson Intl.
Richard Attenborough .... Magog, Arbiter of Justice Great Council of Mac Slec

This live-action adventure, a contemporary story inspired by the classic fairy tale, revolves around modern-day Jack Robinson, the great-great-great grandson of Jack the First. The current Jack must go up the beanstalk to right centuries of wrongs committed by his family.