New Book: A Bean, a Stalk and a Boy Named Jack by William Joyce and Kenny Callicutt

(US/UK Links)

A Bean, a Stalk and a Boy Named Jack by William Joyce (Author, Illustrator) and Kenny Callicutt (Illustrator) was released late last year. It's also available in the UK, see A Bean, a Stalk and a Boy Named Jack (UK Link). I've always enjoyed Joyce's sleek retro illustration style, so this is a fun one for me. The reviews are really strong on this one--the UK link's star rating is glitched--there are several 5 star ratings and 1 single star for an audio version that didn't work for someone and it is overriding all of the others. I saw this in the bookstore during the holidays and found it quite charming.

Book description:

When a king’s pinky grows stinky, it is up to a smallish boy and a smallish pea to come up with a GIANT plan to save the kingdom—a fractured fairy tale from William Joyce and Moonbot Studios, the masterminds who brought you The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.

You might think you know the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, but you might want to think again. In this fairy tale with a twist, it hasn’t rained in days and the king has dictated that something must be done—his royal pinky is getting stinky! With a little magic from a wizard, young Jack, paired with his pea pod pal, will find a GIANT reason as to why there’s no water left in the kingdom...and prove that size doesn’t prevent anyone from doing something BIG.

You can click on these images to see them larger, too.