The House That Jack Built

by Jenny Stow

A familiar nursery rhyme is transported to the Caribbean with beautiful artwork that depicts the gentle rhythms of island life as it creates the large cast of characters that populate Jack's house and village.

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Patrick Resse · Rating 4 out of 5]

The House That Jack Built, with illustrations by Jenny Stow is a retelling of an old nursery rhyme, but with a lush Caribbean setting. This book does not have any awards to its name even though its nursery rhyme is somewhat well known. This book is appropriate for pre-kindergarten up through kindergarten as the story telling is rather simplistic. This book follows a story-telling style similar to the book, The Lady that Swallowed a Fly, which was and still is one of my favorite childrens’ books. The format is quite similar as a mouse finds some malt on a porch and begins to eat it, followed by a cat who killed the mouse (quite different from the previous book). A dog then scares the cat, but then gets kicked away by a cow with a crumpled horn. Each page with text end with the repeated line “That lay in the house that Jack built”. The book works its way to a women who milks the cow, the man that marries that women, the priest that married them, the cock that wakes the priest, all the way to the farmer who owns the rooster. This book messes with your perception of things, similar to the picture book Zoom, as it keeps moving in a quick direction to the source of the story. The illustrations will show the kids a world they have no idea about and the happenings that occur in that part of the world. The illustrations will also peak curiosity in the children, which is very important for their young minds. It gives an idea of the people, the animals, and the environment of this coastal area. This book would be an excellent edition to a literary library for kids, for the reason that even the ones who are not as advanced can still understand what is going on based in the pictures. Activities such as drawing about the environment and talking about what the house that jack built is and what it might represent.

[Jeanie Cullip · Rating 5 out of 5]

While at the library, I found that my daughter has not heard this story of The House that Jack Built, so I knew that I had to bring it home and share it with her. Jenny Stow makes the classic nursery rhyme come to life in this picture book which will also make this a great read aloud to share with your students.

I just love the snowball effect to build the characters and the plot of the story! I like challenging myself to read each section a little faster each time it is read once the new portion of the story has been shared. This makes it rhythmic and exciting to those who are listening to me read. My daughter was in awe of how fast I was able to read the last page, to be honest I was too (just call me Literary Rapper, Jeanie)! Actually, on second thought please do not.

In the classroom, I think this would be a good read aloud for both struggling readers and English Language Learners (ELL) giving them the opportunity to read a section over and over again. A purposeful way to repeat lines in the story.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

familiar rhyme. different artwork.

[Mathew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very clever reinvention of the classic rhyme. This time set within the Caribbean. Jenny Stow's illustrations are bright and honour both the nursery rhyme as well as the landscape from which it is based. This opens up the idea of children reinventing background and landscapes from different cultures with this rhyme.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Caribbean setting.