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Jack And The Beanstalk Story For Kids

Jack and the Beanstalk is a popular story for children.  Be it in picture books, short films and audio stories, this tale is a favourite among kids across all formats. The story inspires a lot of imagination and takes kids on an adventurous journey to a fantasy land atop the beanstalk, over the skies. Read the short story of Jack and the Beanstalk in English to them at bedtime to let their imagination and creativity grow.

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History And Origin Of Jack And The Beanstalk

Jack And The Beanstalk story for kids originated from a group of tales known as The Boy Who Stole Ogre’s Treasure. This book is believed to be first told 5,000 years ago, during a division in Eastern and Western Indo-European languages.

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Story Type Of Jack And The Beanstalk

Jack And The Beanstalk story in English is a fantasy and an adventurous story that kids would enjoy reading at bedtime. Read the full story of Jack And The Beanstalk here:

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Story Characters

The story has the following characters: Jack, his mother, a man selling magic beans, the Ogre and his wife.

Jack And The Beanstalk Story For Children

Long time ago, there lived a poor lady. She was a widow and lived in a small house with her son named Jack. Jack was a lazy little boy and never lent his hand in any work. One summer day, the old cow that they had, stopped giving milk. So Jack’s mother decided that it is time to sell off the cow to earn some money in return. “Take our cow to the market and sell it for a good price,” she instructed Jack, who left immediately. 

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Lazy jack hadn’t walked too far when he already started feeling reluctant to go any further ahead. It was there that he met an old man. “Where are you going, little boy?” the man asked. “I am going to the market to sell this cow”, Jack told him. The man took out a piece of cloth from his pocket and opened it to reveal 5 beans from it. He said to Jack, “Why walk so far till the market? I can take the cow off your hands. And in exchange, you can have these beans.” Jack was happy with the chance to return home right then, but he was curious about this deal. “Just 5 beans for a cow?” Jack asked. “Well, these are not any regular beans. These are magic beans!” The man said, as he saw the glow in Jack’s eyes. And thus, they closed the deal. 

Jack returned home happy and excited to show his mother what a fantastic deal he had made. However, Jack’s mother was furious at him for being so lazy! “How can you be so stupid! Now where will we get money to buy food? How are we going to survive on just 5 beans!” As she scolded him, she threw the useless beans out of his bedroom window and made him go to bed without supper. 

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Next morning, when Jack woke up, he couldn’t recognise what he saw outside his window. A very tall beanstalk had grown reaching into the sky, disappearing amongst the clouds. Jack was so excited to see this, he immediately jumped outside his window and started climbing up the beanstalk. As he kept climbing up, he rose higher than all the house, crossed all the tree tops, reached higher than the clouds and saw clear blue sky ahead. He noticed a straight white road and started walking up to it.  

After such a long climb and walk, Jack was started to get a bit hungry. He looked out for something that he could eat. Just then, he saw a large castle in sight. He went running up to the castle door and greeting the large lady guarding it. “Good Morning!” he wished her politely. “May I have something to eat for breakfast?” he asked her.  

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The large woman looked at him and replied “Run away as fast as you can, unless you want to become breakfast! My husband is a giant ogre, and he likes nothing better than fried little boys for breakfast.” she said.  

Jack was very scared, but the poor little boy was too hungry as he hadn’t had any dinner the previous night either. He pleaded with the ogre’s wise and asked her to hide him from her husband. The lady kindly helped out Jack, and took him in. She gave him some milk and bread and asked him to hurry up and finish.  

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But just as Jack was about to finish eating, he heard a loud thud! It was the Ogre, who had returned home. His wife was worried about Jack, so she quickly hid him in the oven. As the Ogre entered the castle, he looked around suspiciously. He shouted: 

“Fee-fi-fo-fum,
I smell the blood of an Englishman,
Be he alive, or be he dead
I’ll grind his bones to make my bread” 

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The Ogre’s wife covered up, saying “Oh come on! You’re always smelling Englishmen. Now come and eat your breakfast.” She said, as she laid out his breakfast. Jack peeked out from his hiding place to see Ogre busy eating his breakfast.  

After he was done, the Ogre said to his wife, “Bring me the bag of gold coins.” The Ogre counted his gold coins, kept the bag aside and went off to sleep.  

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Jack quietly crept out of his hiding spot, and started heading out the door. But just before leaving, he swiftly grabbed the bag of gold coins and made a run for it! He ran fast and climbed down the beanstalk and reached back home. 

“Mother! Look at this, see what I have brought!” Jack said excitedly as he gave the coin bag to his mother. This ought to help them come out of poverty. Now they had enough money to buy food and everything else they needed. 

Soon, the money Jack had brought started depleting, and the family didn’t have any other source of income. So Jack climbed the beanstalk once again, but this time, in a different disguise. He went to the Ogre’s house again and asked his wife for food, but while he was eating the Ogre returned. Jack leapt up in fright and went and hid under the bed. The Ogre howled,

“Fee-fifo-fum,
I smell the blood of an Englishman.
Be he alive, or be he dead,
I’ll grind his bones to make my bread!”

The wife said, “There is no boy in here! Just eat your food and go to sleep.” The Ogre ate his food and went to his room. There, he took out a hen and shouted, “Lay!”. Obeying the Ogre, the hen laid a golden egg. When the Ogre fell asleep, Jack stole the hen and climbed down the beanstalk.  

“Look! Mother, I have got you a hen that lays golden eggs!” Jack said, as his mother became very happy. 

Now they had a hen that laid a golden egg everyday! But Jack was still curious about what more he could get from the Ogre’s house. So, after some days, he once again climbed the beanstalk and went to the Ogre’s castle. This time, in a yet new disguide. Jack asked the Ogre’s wife for some food. And while he was eating, the Ogre came home.  

“Fee-fi-fo-fum,
I smell the blood of an Englishman.
Be he alive, or be he dead,
I’ll grind his bones to make my bread!”  

The Ogre shouted. “Don’t be silly! There is no boy in here!” said his wife. 

The giant quietly finished his food and took out a magical harp that could play beautiful songs. Listening to the songs, the Ogre fell asleep. Jack saw his opportunity and grabbed the harp and started running away. Suddenly, the magic harp cried, “Help master! A boy is stealing me!” The Ogre woke up and saw Jack with the harp. Furious, he ran after Jack, threatening to kill him and make him the next meal. Jack ran down the beanstalk and reached home. The Ogre followed him all the way down. Jack saw his house within sight, and shouted loudly, “Mother, help! Bring out the axe quickly!”. Worried, his mother ran out, bringing the axe with her. Jack took the axe from her hand and began to chop off the beanstalk. The Ogre fell off and died. 

While the magic beanstalk that led to the Ogre’s castle was gone, Jack and his mother now had the magic harp and a hen that laid Golden eggs. They became very rich and they lived happily ever after. 

Jack And The Beanstalk Story For Children

Story Summary

Here is a short summary of the story Jack And The Beanstalk.

Jack and his widowed mother lived in poverty, when Jack found magic beans. The beans grew into a huge beanstalk that rose into the skies. One day, jack climbed up the beanstalk and found the way to an Ogre’s castle. There, he stole a bag of gold from the giant and ran back home. After that money got over, jack climbed the beanstalk once again. This time, he stole a hen that laid golden eggs and ran back home. Then he climbed back up, just out of curiosity to see what more there was. He was excited to see a magic harp that played beautiful songs. He tried to steal the harp but as soon as he grabbed it, the harp started shouting “Master, save me!” This alerted the Ogre, and he ran behind jack trying to catch him. Jack used his sharp thinking, and asked his mother to bring out his axe. As soon as he reached the ground, he cut off the beanstalk, leading the Ogre to fall and die. Jack and his mother lived with lavish means forever after. 

What Lesson Will Your Child Learn From Jack And The Beanstalk?

Reading Jack And The Beanstalk story with pictures, your child will learn the importance of hard work. If you are lazy and try to steal or use shortcuts for success, you are bound to face bad consequences.

How Can Children Apply The Lesson Of The Story In Their Real Life?

From the short story Jack And The Beanstalk, children will learn not to be lazy like Jack. They will observe the consequences of being lazy, that it may look great at first, but it always has dire consequences. This short story is an interesting read for kids of all ages.

Also Read: 

Story of Robin Hood for Kids
The Story Of Buddha for Children
Santa’s Christmas Story for Children

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