Stacy DeKeyser

Loosely based on the fairytale “Jack and the Beanstalk”, the trouble begins when 13 year old Rudi is sent to market with Susanna to trade dairy products for meat and grain and possibly sell a cow. Susanna, in an effort to help him, sells one of his cows for some allegedly magic beans. It turns out that the beans were stolen from a witch in the neighboring village of Petz and must be returned quickly, so they set out on an adventure to return them. Of course there’s a beanstalk, a giant, a hen that lays golden eggs, witches and all kinds of twists and turns. This tween book is a quick, humorous read with just enough fun and enchantment to keep the pages turning.

Sharyn H. / Marathon County Public Library
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Disclaimer: Won a free copy of the book.

I'd say 4 stars for kids, 3.5 for adults.

I try not to read ahead about a book (to minimize spoilers or influence), so it wasn't until about half way through that I realized this was a retelling of the Pied Piper. I may be in the minority, but I am generally not a fan of retelling a story unless you have some amazing new perspective, so I think I judged it more harshly because of this. I appreciate the addition of the backstory of the Pied Piper, but not sure that it was enough to warrant redoing the story. Perhaps I'd feel differently if I had realized I was reading a variation before I started, instead I felt a little disappointed to figure it out part way through.

What did I like?
The characters of Oma and the witch.
Though a bit of a trope, the wise grandmother was handled well.
Without revealing any spoilers, I very much enjoyed her perspective on the witch and found the portrayal at the end to be a nice twist on the usual witches in fairy tales.
I also liked the portrayal of the rat-catcher.
The blacksmith who railed against everything was also fairly amusing.

What did I not like?
I know it was written from the perspective of a young boy, but the fact that the girls in the book are constantly (at least 3 times) dismisses as "silly little girls" who squealed at rats annoyed me. The main character matures through the book, why not at least Susanna? Again, this is probably unfair, but when it's a female writer and a book from the last ten years, I do have higher expectations that we not reinforce old gender stereotypes. I'm sure this was in no way intentional, but it still lessened my excitement at giving it to two young girls to read after I had finished it - but since it did have positive older female portrayals, I figured it would balance out.… (more)