The Jack Tales

Jack tales have been a part of our family for many generations and may they keep blessing our children forever. Read to me by kerosene lamps and Light from the Carbide Well before the REA figured how to cheat us, and Papa told the stories from memory. My favorite was the Sop, Doll, Sop.

Jack walks on, walks on, from one generation to the next. I first heard of Jack when my fifth-grade teacher read the stories to us. Then I purchased the book to read to my children. Now, 20 years later, I've sent it as a gift to my young nephews. The report is that they loved it! To enjoy a truly timeless set of tales, you can't go wrong with "The Jack Tales".

When we go camping we look for the best book to read during our campfires, one that makes you laugh and think...the stories written with accents that Dad (me) can do, like southern drwals and mountain slang, or foreign accents are the best, this one met that criteria with the mountain way of talken...we were in stiches the whole book, we were even told by other campers who over heard us, that they also enjoyed the stories. We checked this book out from the library, but I will get a copy to keep, it will be read over and over again.

My mother, who was from North Carolina with relatives in the Appalachians, read The Jack Tales to my brother and me before we started reading for ourselves. She got really tired of doing so, because we'd ask for them over and over. Fairy tales are the deep learning of childhood, and to hear these stories written the same way our older relatives spoke was wondrous. The stories themselves are a celebration of Jack the hero and Jack the Trickster, told with plenty of humour to keep things interesting and in a voice both authentically American and of universal appeal. I'm delighted to be able to get my hands on a copy - this is a book well worth reading and preserving for the next generation of avid readers.

I first heard the Jack Tales when I was in the fourth grade back in the 1960's. Our teacher would read us a chapter once a week. I had to look good and hard to find a copy for my daughters they have enjoyed hearing about Jack.

I first read this book as a child in the sixties. On rereading it recently, I found these tales to be just as magical as I remember them. Loosely mirroring the European fairy tales, the impart a decidedly Appalachian spin to them. Poor Jack is the youngest son, prone to laziness and ripe for adventure. He lives and wins his battles using his wits and his good nature. The tales are full of humor and the best man, Jack, always wins. If you thought you knew all of the fairy tales, you will be more than pleasantly surprised