Jake and the Beanstalk

by Mindy Phillips

Once upon a time, there was a poor boy named Jake who lived with his mother in a little house in Alpharetta. His mother lost her job, and Jake was too young to get a job. He was only in fourth grade, you know. His mother was quite anxious about finding the money needed to get food for the family at Publix. “What should we do, Jake? We will soon starve and be without electricity and water if we cannot pay our bills!” she exclaimed nervously. Jake hated to see his mother upset, and he assured her that he would do all he could to get money for their bills and for food.

Jake walked all throughout his neighborhood to see if anyone needed any help taking care of their yard or cleaning their house. When no one was in need of help, Jake sadly began to walk the 3,000 feet home to his little house. On his way home, an old man asked him why he looked so glum. “My mother has lost her job, I can’t find any work, and I don’t know how we will afford to live,” Jake informed the man. “Well, you seem to have run into the right person. I can help you, Jake,” said the old man. “In my hands there are several magical beans- the number is equal to the square root of 25. They are all yours if you will mow my lawn weekly for the next three years.”

Jake thought and thought. He didn’t want to work for free for the next three years, as his family really needed his time and any money he could earn, but the magical beans were tempting. After much consideration, Jake agreed to make the deal with the old man, and took the magical beans home to his mother. When he informed his mother of all that had happened that afternoon, she was livid. “Jake, you mean to tell me that you have sold three years of your hard work and time for beans? How could you do such a careless thing? Even a fourth grader should know there is no such thing as magical beans. You’re grounded to your room, and there will be no dinner for you tonight!”

When he woke up, he noticed something was different. He usually rose with the sun, but today, his room was not painted with sunlight. Utterly confused, Jake began to walk downstairs to find his mother and apologize for his actions from the previous day. As he walked past his window, he looked outside and saw what he thought was a figment of his imagination from a lack of food- a giant beanstalk reaching into the clouds.

She was so angry, she threw his beans right out the window. Jake was disappointed with himself and couldn’t believe that he had made his mother so upset, so he went to sleep with a heavy heart.

Jake realized he could reach this beanstalk and decided to take a chance and climb its heights. Up and up and up, he climbed until he was higher than the clouds. He climbed for about three hours when he finally reached the peak of the stalk.

Jake walked and walked. In the far distance sat a house of gargantuan proportions. Where was he? Jake walked toward the house, but was interrupted by the sight of a giant, old woman as she walked out of the door. “Ma’am, would you be so kind as to offer me something to eat?” Jake asked the woman.

“Young lad, you best be on your way. My husband is a mean, old ogre, and he eats nosey little boys like you for breakfast,”

she warned. “Please ma’am,” Jake pleaded. “I haven’t eaten since breakfast yesterday, and my stomach is rumbling like ten herds of cattle running from a lion.” Just as the words came from his mouth, Jake realized that his stomach

wasn’t the only thing rumbling. The ground began to shake vigorously and he heard the words, “Fe-fi-fo-fum, I

smell the blood of a young Georgian.” “Hurry, my husband is

home,” the woman warned Jake, “you must go in through the double doors into

the kitchen and hop into the oven to hide!”

The kitchen was tremendously large. Although it was one of the smallest in the house, the room was 75 feet wide and 90 feet long. The ceiling was taller than the ogre, as it was 168 inches tall. The woman was convincing her monstrous husband that indeed he must smell the boy she cooked him for dinner the previous night when the couple walked into the kitchen. Although it took her some time, her husband finally conceded and chose to count his gold to calm down. As he was enjoying the cool feeling of the gold pieces between his fingers, his wife brought him his breakfast knowing that he would soon need a nap. The ogre gobbled up his breakfast and soon was asleep. “Hurry up,” the woman urged. “You must leave the house now and go back to where you came from before my husband has you for lunch!”

Jake, sensing the potential danger, hopped out of the oven and began

running out of the house (but not

without taking a bag of gold for himself and his

family). He ran as fast as his legs

could take him, 20 miles per hour to be exact, for the next 30 minutes.

He hurriedly climbed down the beanstalk with his stolen treasure, and ran to tell his mother the day’s events. Jake’s mother was so pleased, she jumped 4 and a half feet into the air. After the family had used up all the gold to pay their bills and buy groceries, Jake realized he needed to climb up the magical beanstalk again.

Once high in the skies, he found his way to the ogre’s house. “Why in the world are you back, young boy? Do you wish to be my husband’s next meal? He has been especially ornery since he found out that some of his gold went missing around the time you were here last. Do you know anything of its absence, boy?” the giant woman asked. “I’d love to tell you all I know,” said Jake, “but I am so famished I can hardly think straight. Would you please be so kind as to offer me some lunch?” Because the woman wanted to get to the bottom of the mystery, she offered Jake some pie.

Her husband had already eaten 5/8 of the pie, but she offered Jake a piece and a giant glass of milk. Jake was amazed, as the glass had to contain at least 5 pints of cool milk. Just as his fork slid through the delicious pie, his glass began to shake, and milk spilled everywhere. He looked around and noticed that the entire room was shaking. It was then Jake heard the familiar words, “Fe-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of a young Georgian.” “Hurry up,” the woman urged. “You must leave the house now and go back to where you came from before my husband has you for lunch!”

Jake pulled up the tablecloth and hid under the table. “Where is the boy?” asked the cruel ogre. “I don’t know what boy you are talking about, my love. You must be confused. I am cooking your favorite lunch though. Come sit and enjoy,” said the woman calmly, although she was shaking inside. The ogre looked around the house to find the boy he smelled, but couldn’t find anything. Instead, he returned with his favorite hen. “Lay,” he ordered the hen, and upon request, the hen laid a golden egg. This hen was his pride and joy, as he was able to lay golden eggs when ordered.

Once his lunch was ready, and he had eaten all he could contain, the ogre fell fast asleep. “Young boy, you must never come back, or you will surely be his next meal. Only luck has spared you so far, and you needn’t risk your life. I do not want to see you again around here,” the giant woman said sternly. Once

again, Jake took her warning and ran out of the house, but not without stealing the hen that laid the golden

eggs.

He climbed down the beanstalk as fast as he could- 15 feet per minute, to be exact. His mother was overjoyed when she saw the treasure Jake brought now. The magical beans were sparing their lives and making them richer and richer by the day. The possibilities were endless with a hen that could lay golden eggs. Now, Jake had not learned his lesson and began to get greedy, so he climbed up the beanstalk again. This time, he quietly snuck into the ogre’s colossal house without notice.

As he spied on the couple from a distance, he was astonished to hear that once again the grotesque

ogre could smell his presence. Because the wife had not seen the boy, she again tried calming her

husband. “The boy who stole your bag of gold and your favorite hen that lays the golden eggs would

not be so foolish as to come back for more. He would fear for his life to enter your presence, my

husband,” she said, “Perhaps you should listen to your singing, golden harp.”

The woman brought her husband his favorite golden harp and continued her work around the house, as the ogre ordered the harp to sing. The harp sang the most beautiful music that Jake had ever heard, and envy rose in his heart. His decision was made, and once the harp’s lullaby had put the ogre to sleep, Jake grabbed the harp and began running toward the beanstalk. To his unfortunate surprise, the harp started yelling, “Master! Master!”

In a moment, the ogre was awake from his slumber and running rapidly toward Jake. Because he had giant steps, the ogre could run 40 miles per hour, so Jake had to move faster than he ever had. Jake finally reached the beanstalk and climbed 2/6 of the way down, when he noticed the ogre considering his own descent. Jake continued until he finally reached the ground.

As he looked up, he noticed the ogre’s legs coming down the beanstalk through the clouds. Jake hurriedly called to his mother for the ax and began to chop down the beanstalk. He used all his might to chop, chop, chop, chop, and chop. He’d already swung five times and was only one third of the way through the thick beanstalk. He continued chopping until finally, the beanstalk fell, and the ogre fell with it. As the ogre hit the ground, the earth shook, and the ogre went right through the ground like a boulder through the water. He would no longer be a problem for Jake or his mother.

Once the commotion died down, Jake showed his mother his final stolen treasure. She was so

pleased. Their money troubles were now over, and soon they became the richest in all of Alpharetta.

While the boy did not learn his lesson about stealing or of greed, his magical beanstalk was now gone and he had to be content with all he

had…which was now quite a lot!

QuestionsQuestions

• After finding out that his neighbors didn’t need his help, how many YARDS did Jake walk back to his house?

• How many magic beans did the old man trade Jake?• What is the area, perimeter, & volume of the ogre’s

kitchen?• If Jake ran 20 mph for 30 minutes back to the

beanstalk, how many miles did he run?• Upon hearing the great news, Jake’s mother jumped

4 ½ feet. How many inches is that?• The ogre’s wife offered Jake a pie that the ogre had

already begun to eat. After Jake ate his piece, how much pie was left?

Still More Questions…Still More Questions…• How many cups were in the five pints of milk the

ogre’s wife offered Jake?• If Jake climbed down the beanstalk 15 feet per

minute, how many YARDS did he descend after 3 minutes?

• If the ogre could run 40 miles per hour, how many miles could he run in 2 ½ hours?

• What fraction remained for Jake to descend when he noticed the ogre was going to climb down after him?

• How many times did Jake have to swing his ax in order to cut through the entire beanstalk?