Jack the giant chaser
Subtitle: an Appalachian tale
By: Kenn & Joanne Compton.
Contributors: Compton, Joanne.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Holiday House
Published: 1993
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Subjects: Folklore -- United States.; Giants -- Folklore.
Genres: folktale
Description: Jack uses his wits to get rid of the giant up on Balsam Mountain.
Notes: Based on Richard Chase's The Jack Tales. The mayor in Jack's hometown gets him to go after a giant because he brags about his adventure killing seven at a blow (really a lucky rock throw at catfish). He tries to act like a hero because everybody thinks he is one. After individuals tell what the giant has done to them, Jack uses his wits to get rid of the giant up on Balsam Mountain, acting casual at the giant's house. He tricks the giant into thinking he’s strong by wanting to move the creek instead of carrying buckets, wanting to throw a giant knife to his uncle over the mountain instead of across the yard, and getting the scared giant into a barrel because he says his bigger family is coming. When Jack rolls the barrel out, the giant gets bumped crashing into tree, and leaves for ever. The cartoonlike illustrations contain some interesting design features, with the giant and Jack in different relative sizes and different positions on facing pages. The giant is huge, spreading across the page in their first confrontation, but the images of Jack are larger in other scenes as he gets the upper hand. “Joanne Compton’s Jack the Giant Chaser is one of the finest of the trickster Jack tales. Jack’s ingenuity and the Giant’s stupidity have undying appeal” (Roberta Herrin, "Southern Pot of Soup." Southern Exposure Summer 1996, p. 61.) Notes by Tina L. Hanlon, Ferrum College. See AppLit page on tales of Jack and giants at http://www.ferrum.edu/applit/bibs/tales/jackgiants.htm.