Tuesday, May 9, 2017

The Thief and the Beanstalk by P.W. Catanese - ADVISABLE

Catanese, P.W. The Thief and the Beanstalk, 275 pages.  Aladdin (Simon), 2017 (REPRINT).  $8.  Language: G; Mature Content: G; Violence: PG.

Nick is desperate to find just a mouthful of food to sustain him to the next day.  Instead, he is found by Finch, an evil man who needs a small boy to help him with the heist of the century – stealing from the crazy old man, Jack, who says he climbed a beanstalk and stole his riches from a giant in the clouds.  Nick, intimidated by Finch, does as commanded, but is intrigued by the old man and betrays the thief.  Jack gives Nick three beans and Nick takes his own adventure up to the clouds.

Instead of twisting Jack’s story into a nod toward the original, Catanese creates an equally compelling sequel to the original story.  He answers a question that I didn’t even know should be answered.  How clever!

EL, MS – ADVISABLE.  Cindy, Library Teacher
FYI:  I just figured out that this is a reprint that I totally missed the first time around!  Love the new cover; glad I read it.

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