#231 of 1001 · March 19, 2021

Another Jack and the Beanstalk entry of interest is this oddball adaptation by Anthea Bell and Aljoscha Blau. Bell provides a straightforward and respectful adaptation of Joseph Jacobs’ telling, sprinkling a few well-chosen bits of original phrasing throughout the traditional dialogue and story beats. It is in Blau’s illustrations, however, that a unique and engrossing vision arises. Strangeness abounds on every page. Jack rides to the market on a penny-farthing, towing his cow in an oversized basket, only to meet the mysterious bean-giving stranger driving a steampunk jalopy with a miniature boiler for an engine and a tufted armchair seat. Up at the top of the beanstalk, the ogre resembles a lethargic man in pants and an undershirt, while his wife sports the inordinately disturbing combination of an uncanny doll mask over her face and a boning knife hanging from her apron pocket. The couple keeps a peculiar pair of small pets with animal bodies and human faces, and their entire homestead appears to be located on a parallel plane with its gravity opposed to our own. #jack #beanstalk #jackandthebeanstalk #giant #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #beautifulbookcover #beautifulbookcovers #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookillustrations #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks