Jack and the Beanstalk Coloring Pages
Trading a cow for a handful of beans sounds like a terrible deal, and Jack's mum certainly thought so. The beans grew into a stalk tall enough to reach a giant's castle in the clouds, though, so Jack ended up having the last laugh.
Jump to: Jack and Mum | Magic Beans | The Beanstalk | The Castle | The Giant | The Harp | Chopping Down
Jack and His Mum
Jack and his mum were so poor that their cupboard was mostly echoes, and the only thing of any value left was their cow, who'd stopped giving milk and didn't seem a bit sorry about it. Jack's mum finally told him to take the cow to market and get the best price he could. Jack was a cheerful sort of boy with more patches on his trousers than good ideas, so off he went down the road, with the cow ambling along behind him and her bell clanking at every step.
A Cow for Some Beans
Halfway to market, Jack met an old man in a feathered hat who looked the cow over and offered to swap her for something much better than money. Out of his pouch came a handful of beans, which he swore were magic, and he said it so confidently that Jack handed over the cow and skipped home feeling like the cleverest boy in the county. His mum didn't see it that way at all. She tossed the beans out of the window and sent Jack to bed without his supper, while out in the dark garden the beans quietly got on with being magic.
Up the Beanstalk
By morning there was a beanstalk outside the window so thick and tall that its top had vanished into the clouds, with leaves as big as dinner plates and curly tendrils winding around it like the ribbons on a maypole. Jack couldn't resist a good climb, so up he went, past the treetops and through a cloud that felt like damp cotton, until his village looked like a toy set somebody had left out on the grass. At the very top, a long road wound across the sky to an enormous castle.
A Castle in the Clouds
Everything at the top of the beanstalk is built for someone much bigger than Jack, from the doors as tall as barns to the front step he had to scramble up like a cliff. A castle in the clouds is a smart choice for a giant who doesn't care for visitors, since the beanstalk is the only way to get there.
Fairy Tale Castles coloring pages
Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum
The first person Jack met inside was the giant's wife, who took one look at the skinny, hungry boy on her doorstep and gave him something to eat before she'd even asked his name. In some versions she hides him in the oven when the giant comes thumping home, which makes her the kindest person in the whole castle. The giant himself is a shaggy, bellowing fellow with boots like barrels, who sniffs the air and roars out his famous rhyme about smelling someone nearby, then never thinks to check the oven. Jack waited until the giant was snoring and slipped away with a bag of gold.
The Golden Harp
Jack made it home with a bag of gold the first time and a hen that laid golden eggs the second, but the third trip was the one that went wrong. This time he grabbed a golden harp that played music all on its own, and in some versions it calls out for the giant just as Jack tucks it under his arm, which is very bad timing. The giant woke up with a roar and thundered after Jack through the castle halls with one huge hand stretched out. In some versions the treasures belonged to Jack's family long before the giant took them, which makes the whole thing feel a lot better.
Down Comes the Beanstalk
Jack scrambled down the beanstalk with the harp under his arm and the giant's thumping footsteps shaking the leaves behind him. The second his boots touched the ground he grabbed an axe and chopped at the stalk with everything he had, and when it toppled the giant came tumbling down with it, and that was the end of him. The road to the castle in the clouds was gone for good, but Jack and his mum had plenty of gold and a harp to keep them company, and their cupboard never echoed again.