Genre: Multicultural
Age Level: All ages - depending on the story told
Summary: The Jack Tales are a compilation of stories that are meant to be oral but were written down by the author Richard Chase. Most of these stories started out as English folktales, but were later shared in other countries as well. So, therefore, these stories are also to be considered multicultural because each culture puts their own spin on the stories. No two people, or cultures, will present one of these tales in the same way.
In this particular version of The Jack Tales, the author has been told the stories by the Ward and Harmon families from North Carolina and Virginia. Even though these stories have been written down, if the members of the families were to tell them again, there would most definitely be differences in the stories. That is why these stories are so unique.
Each story follows a similar pattern. Jack sets out to find his fortune. Along the way, he meets many kinds of "enemies", whether real or imaginary, which adds spice to his adventures. Jack is always clever and is usually, practically most of the time, the heroic one at the end of the story. Some of the tales are - "Jack and the Bean Tree", "Jack and the Varmints", and "Jack and the Giants' Newground". There are many others included in this compilation.
Reflection: Of course, over the years, I have heard many different versions of these stories myself. "Jack and the Beanstalk" was always a favorite of mine as a child, but the version in this book was different than what I remember being told. I think it is important to share our Appalachian heritage with students and this book is one that can be very useful and kid-friendly. I would especially find The Jack Tales helpful in teaching Arts and Humanities - Drama. I am responsible for teaching my students about storytelling and where it actually came from. I can share these stories with my students and complete an activity where I actually let them retell the stories to see how similar the two stories are. It would also be beneficial to wait a few weeks and bring the story back to their minds and actually see how close their version is at that time. After working with these stories, I could then have the students come up with their own stories, tell them, write them down, and then check to see how similar their own real-life stories turn out.
Big Questions: Who is Jack? Where did Jack come from? Do you think Jack is a real character or one that was made-up? Why do you think Jack always appears to be a hero? Would you like to be Jack for a day?
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