Some traditional tales have magical aspects such as magic beans or beanstalks. Traditional tales try to teach us a lesson about something. Traditional tales often have heroes and villains. Jack could be described as the hero or the villain from different perspectives.

Jack and the Beanstalk first appeared as The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean in 1734. Featured iIllustrations are by Arthur Rackham, 1918 edition of English Fairy Tales retold by Flora Annie Steel. Once upon a time there lived a poor widow and her son Jack. One day, Jack’s mother told him to sell their only cow.

The story is often performed a traditional British Christmas pantomime, wherein the Giant has a henchman, traditionally named Fleshcreep, the pantomime villain, Jack's mother is the Dame, and Jack is the Principal boy. Fleshcreep is the enemy of a fairy who helps Jack in his quest and Jack has a love interest, usually the daughter of a King ...

Jack and the Beanstalk is by far the most well-known traditional British fairy tale. It's a very popular story about a boy who confronts a giant risking his life to finally become a mature, responsible person.

The first part of our lesson is reading and responding to this traditional tale, "Jack and the Beanstalk." Have a look at these stories. "Little Red Riding Hood," "Anansi the Clever Spider," "The Princess and the Pea" and "The Three Little Pigs."