JACK OUTWITS THE GIANTS

Even extra heads are no help when it comes to a battle of wits with Jack. Forced to seek shelter from a storm with a giant woman and her two-headed, “mud fence ugly,” husband, the young traveler soon discovers that his prospects don’t extend past breakfast unless he can convince his hosts that he’s witched. Johnson (Fearless Jack, 2001, etc) gives his woolly haired, overall-clad trickster a pair of oversized adversaries with mottled skin, green nails, zero fashion sense—and an increasingly avid look that clearly spells out their ill intentions. But after convincing them that he can squeeze milk from a rock and other wonders, Jack’s warning that the sheriff’s coming sends the panicked pair diving into their well—and “they say a giant’s well hasn’t got a bottom to it.” Told in a folksy style that fits both tale and pictures perfectly, this Appalachian folk hero’s latest escapade should win him plenty of new fans. (author’s note) (Picture book/folktale. 7-9)