Original pictures for Storynory by Sophie Green.
Click pictures for full size
Read by Natasha. Duration 19.50
There was once upon a time a poor widow who had an only son named Jack, and a cow named Milky-White. And all they had to live on was the milk the cow gave every morning, which they carried to the market and sold. But one morning Milky-White gave no milk.
“What shall we do, what shall we do?” said the widow, wringing her hands.
“Cheer up, mother, I’ll go and get work somewhere,” said Jack.
“We’ve tried that before, and nobody would take you,” said his mother. “We must sell Milky-White and with the money start a shop, or something.”
“All right, mother,” says Jack. “It’s market day today, and I’ll soon sell Milky-White, and then we’ll see what we can do.”
So he took the cow, and off he started. He hadn’t gone far when he met a funny-looking old man, who said to him, “Good morning, Jack.”
“Good morning to you,” said Jack, and wondered how he knew his name.
“Well, Jack, and where are you off to?” said the man.
“I’m going to market to sell our cow there.”
“Oh, you look the proper sort of chap to sell cows,” said the man. “I wonder if you know how many beans make five.”
“Two in each hand and one in your mouth,” says Jack, as sharp as a needle.
“Right you are,” says the man, “and here they are, the very beans themselves,” he went on, pulling out of his pocket a number of strange-looking beans. “As you are so sharp,” says he, “I don’t mind doing a swap with you — your cow for these beans.”
“Go along,” says Jack. “You take me for a fool!”
“Ah! You don’t know what these beans are,” said the man. “If you plant them overnight, by morning they grow right up to the sky.”
“Really?” said Jack. “You don’t say so.”
“Yes, that is so. And if it doesn’t turn out to be true you can have your cow back.”
“Right,” says Jack, and hands him over Milky-White and pockets the beans.
Back home goes Jack and says to his mother:
“You’ll never guess mother what I got for Milky-White.”
And his mother became very excited:
“Five pounds? Ten? Fifteen? No, it can’t be twenty.”
“I told you you couldn’t guess. What do you say to these beans? They’re magical. Plant them overnight and — ”
“What!” says Jack’s mother. “Have you been such a fool, such a dolt, such an idiot? Take that! Take that! Take that! And as for your precious beans here they go out of the window. And now off with you to bed. Not a sup shall you drink, and not a bit shall you swallow this very night.”
So Jack went upstairs to his little room in the attic, and sad and sorry he was, to be sure.
At last he dropped off to sleep.
When he woke up, the room looked so funny. The sun was shining into part of it, and yet all the rest was quite dark and shady. So Jack jumped up and went to the window. And what do you think he saw? Why, the beans his mother had thrown out of the window into the garden had sprung up into a giant beanstalk which went up and up and up till it reached the sky. So the man spoke truth after all.
The beanstalk grew up quite close past Jack’s window, so all he had to do was to open it and give a jump onto the beanstalk which ran up just like a big ladder. So Jack climbed, and he climbed, and he climbed, and he climbed, and he climbed, and he climbed, and he climbed till at last he reached the sky. And when he got there he found a long broad road going as straight as a dart. So he walked along, and he walked along, and he walked along till he came to a great big tall house, and on the doorstep there was a great big tall woman.
“Good morning, ma’am,” says Jack, quite polite-like. “Could you be so kind as to give mesome breakfast?” For he was as hungry as a hunter.
“It’s breakfast you want, is it?” says the great big tall woman. “It’s breakfast you’ll be if you don’t move off from here. My man is an ogre and there’s nothing he likes better than boys broiled on toast. You’d better be moving on or he’ll be coming.”
“Oh! please, mum, do give me something to eat, mum. I’ve had nothing to eat since yesterday morning, really and truly, mum,” says Jack. “I may as well be broiled as die of hunger.”
Well, the ogre’s wife was not half so bad after all. So she took Jack into the kitchen, and gave him a hunk of bread and cheese and a jug of milk. But Jack hadn’t half finished these when thump! thump! thump! the whole house began to tremble with the noise of someone coming.
“Goodness gracious me! It’s my old man,” said the ogre’s wife. “What on earth shall I do? Come along quick and jump in here.” And she bundled Jack into the oven just as the ogre came in.
He was a big one, to be sure. At his belt he had three calves strung up by the heels, and he unhooked them and threw them down on the table and said:
Fee-fi-fo-fum,
I smell the blood of an Englishman,
Be he alive, or be he dead,
I’ll have his bones to grind my bread.”
“Nonsense, dear,” said his wife. “You’ re dreaming. Or perhaps you smell the scraps of that little boy you liked so much for yesterday’s dinner. Here, you go and have a wash and tidy up, and by the time you come back your breakfast’ll be ready for you.”
So off the ogre went, and Jack was just going to jump out of the oven and run away when the woman told him: “Wait till he’s asleep. He always has a doze after breakfast.”
Well, the ogre had his breakfast, and after that he goes to a big chest and takes out a couple of bags of gold, and down he sits and counts till at last his head began to nod and he began to snore till the whole house shook again.
Then Jack crept out on tiptoe from his oven, and as he was passing the ogre, he took one of the bags of gold under his arm, and off he pelters till he came to the beanstalk, and then he threw down the bag of gold, which, of course, fell into his mother’s garden, and then he climbed down and climbed down till at last he got home and told his mother and showed her the gold and said, “Well, mother, wasn’t I right about the beans? They are really magical, you see.”
So they lived on the bag of gold for some time, but at last they came to the end of it, and Jack made up his mind to try his luck once more at the top of the beanstalk. So one fine morning he rose up early, and got onto the beanstalk, and he climbed, and he climbed, and he climbed, and he climbed, and he climbed, and he climbed till at last he came out onto the road again and up to the great tall house he had been to before. There, sure enough, was the great tall woman a-standing on the doorstep.
“Good morning, mum,” says Jack, as bold as brass, “could you be so good as to give me something to eat?”
“Go away, my boy,” said the big tall woman, “or else my man will eat you up for breakfast. But aren’t you the youngster who came here once before? Do you know, that very day my man missed one of his bags of gold.”
“That’s strange, mum,” said Jack, “I dare say I could tell you something about that, but I’m so hungry I can’t speak till I’ve had something to eat.”
Well, the big tall woman was so curious that she took him in and gave him something to eat. But he had scarcely begun munching it as slowly as he could when thump! thump! they heard the giant’s footstep, and his wife hid Jack away in the oven.
All happened as it did before. In came the ogre as he did before, said, “Fee-fi-fo-fum,” and had his breakfast off three broiled oxen.
Then he said, “Wife, the hen that lays the golden eggs.” So she brought it, and the ogre said, “Lay,” and it laid an egg all of gold. And then the ogre began to nod his head, and to snore till the house shook.
Then Jack crept out of the oven on tiptoe and caught hold of the golden hen, and was off before you could say “Jack Robinson.” But this time the hen gave a cackle which woke the ogre, and just as Jack got out of the house he heard him calling, “Wife, wife, what have you done with my golden hen?”
And the wife said, “Why, my dear?”
But that was all Jack heard, for he rushed off to the beanstalk and climbed down like a house on fire. And when he got home he showed his mother the wonderful hen, and said “Lay” to it; and it laid a golden egg every time he said “Lay.”
Well it wasn’t long before Jack made up his mind to have another try at his luck up there at the top of the beanstalk. So one fine morning he rose up early and got to the beanstalk, and he climbed, and he climbed, and he climbed, and he climbed till he got to the top.
But this time he knew better than to go straight to the ogre’s house. And when he got near it, he waited behind a bush till he saw the ogre’s wife come out with a pail to get some water, and then he crept into the house and got into a big copper pot. He hadn’t been there long when he heard thump! thump! thump! as before, and in came the ogre and his wife.
“Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman,” cried out the ogre. “I smell him, wife, I smell him.”
“Do you, my dearie?” says the ogre’s wife. “Then, if it’s that little rogue that stole your gold and the hen that laid the golden eggs he’s sure to have got into the oven.” And they both rushed to the oven.
But Jack wasn’t there, luckily.
So the ogre sat down to the breakfast and ate it, but every now and then he would mutter, “Well, I could have sworn –” and he’d get up and search the larder and the cupboards and everything, only, luckily, he didn’t think of the copper pot.
After breakfast was over, the ogre called out, “Wife, wife, bring me my golden harp.”
So she brought it and put it on the table before him. Then he said, “Sing!” and the golden harp sang most beautifully. And it went on singing till the ogre fell asleep, and commenced to snore like thunder.
Then Jack lifted up the copper lid very quietly and got down like a mouse and crept on hands and knees till he came to the table, when up he crawled, caught hold of the golden harp and dashed with it towards the door.
But the harp called out quite loud, “Master! Master!” and the ogre woke up just in time to see Jack running off with his harp.
Jack ran as fast as he could, and the ogre came rushing after, and would soon have caught him, only Jack had a start and dodged him a bit and knew where he was going. When he got to the beanstalk the ogre was not more than twenty yards away when suddenly he saw Jack disappear. And when he came to the end of the road he saw Jack underneath climbing down for dear life. Well, the ogre didn’t like trusting himself to such a ladder, and he stood and waited, so Jack got another start.
But just then the harp cried out, “Master! Master!” and the ogre swung himself down onto the beanstalk, which shook with his weight. Down climbs Jack, and after him climbed the ogre.
By this time Jack had climbed down and climbed down and climbed down till he was very nearly home. So he called out, “Mother! Mother! bring me an axe, bring me an axe.” And his mother came rushing out with the ax in her hand, but when she came to the beanstalk she stood stock still with fright, for there she saw the ogre with his legs just through the clouds.
But Jack jumped down and got hold of the ax and gave a chop at the beanstalk which cut it half in two. The ogre felt the beanstalk shake and quiver, so he stopped to see what was the matter. Then Jack gave another chop with the ax, and the beanstalk was cut in two and began to topple over. Then the ogre fell down and broke his crown, and the beanstalk came toppling after.
Then Jack showed his mother his golden harp, and what with showing that and selling the golden eggs, Jack and his mother became very rich, and he married a great princess, and they lived happy ever after.
144 Comments
ha ha ha very nice
ha ha ha very nice story
this story is good for learn english.
I like this story because I want learning english. that’s very well
i love this story
I liked this story a lot.
It was very nice
specially for training listening
This was so good — I liked it very much. It was a good story.
Ben (7)
i really like the story thank you
its beautifull .. ha got some good sleep
Very good story.And how lucky Jack is,he is so clever and brave,by contraries,the ogre is so foor also his wife.
how fun!Thanks a lot of the writter of this story,he(she) gave us a very good story.
nice story,i REALLY like it
thank you for telling this story.
serene
I like this story, really nice
very nice story….. but i think you should change more of the story………. great Job
thanx for this story
thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks this is a cool story!!!!!
we really like this story.thanks to my teacher she gave to me this website
I like JACK AND THE BEANSTALK.
i like it.cool fat giant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I AM A BEAN IN THIS STORY FOR A PLAY THIS SATURDAY.
great story helpt me sleep
Its fantastic… thx a ton..
Its one of my favourite stories of childhood…. i love it… i still listen to this story everyday!!!!!
very nice story to learn english. thanks.
:+
so long story. . .meron ako ng project wala kasing short story 7B▬3♥Xc
IT WAS FUNNY WHEN HE CHOPPED IT DOWN WITH THE AXE.
I liked the bit when he sang Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum.
i liked the story i thought it was very good and i also enjoyed
i thought it was very boring and i could not go to bed
“Then the ogre fell down and broke his crown, and the beanstalk came toppling after.”
I love this sentence! Very clever.
The princess was name Jill?
I LIKE THE GAINT SAYING FEE-FI-FO-FUM
i like this story
it is a lovely st
i was frigented by the giant and i was disapointed with the ending by taking things and marry the princess that ending is very disappointed everyone in my class said that too
i do like this story it makes me fell a worm kind of feeling and that to me means its a good story. my favourite bit is when jack gets free and stops the giant and they live happly ever after but i don’t remember all of it as i am geting older but it is one of my very good worm felling stories and i would like to read again and again.
oh by the way just a little tip if you get more pics people might comment more oh and they might do it if say you said comment to make are sight better or something like that
anyway i think i am your longest commenter yet but i don’t mind
BY THE WAY JACK AND THE BEANSTORK GREAT STORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hey i love this story fab one of my favourite stories of all time is it yours oh you know that teigan she is a good writer she should be a teacher don’t you think hey maybe you could make her commenter of the mounth that would be so coolllllllllllllllllllllllllllll so think about it hu hu love ya bye bye !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i don’t like this story i think it is boring don’t you and if you do you
maddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd
only joking i love the story rock on
Jack and the bean stalker!
My friend thinks it’s weird.
This story is great. I really like this website.
I think it’s great.
I like this story.It is very good
Excellent . Full of expressions in narration and good modulation. Improves the lisenting skills for kids and sharpens memory.
That was kind of funny. Thank you for the story!
i like this storw .
Absolutely lovely memory of childhood 70 years ago
I liked this story, that’s all.
I liked this version and will share it with my students. We are studying fairy tales. Thank you!!!
i hate this story
ugly giant
asome and i mean good story
GREAT STORY
GREAT STORY……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
i heard of the story and saw the movie on
HBO it was amazing
i love it because there is lots of people who are supporting it and there is lots of books and TV shows about jack and the bean stalk i love so much well it is a great story that is not true
Very nice! I could learn the English language, including the intonation for reading a story. It is good for me as a second language. This story is a great story! Thank you very much.
what about ZUNE podcast???
Your stories are great. We love to listen to them at bedtime. Don’t change anything!
I like stories about giants. Jack is a clever boy. I wish I had a golden hen.
i liked jack and the beanstalk
^,_,^
i thnk dis stowy is goo
I LOVE THE STORIES,THEIR SO COOL!STORYNORY IS AWSOME!
this story was geat!
i came from Norway and then this is a good story to learn more English.
*love*
:-):-)
I love this story this was one of my facourite stories was i was young.
I LOVE THIS STORY
HELPS TO GIVE MY BROTHER A STORY TO LISTEN TO FOR HIS READING ASSIGNMENTS(20 MIN READING)
LOVE FE FI FO FUM
AWESOME
i like how Natasha uses her voice for diffent people
you did a great job of this story. my kids loved it.
this story was very good.
thanks for your stories,my twin babies in my womb have great time listening same with my son a 5 year old boy josh….i like all d stories here.
very good story needs a few ajustments tho
I’m from Mexico, and this is a great story to make kids to learn and practice English.
Thanks for having it online instead of having the kids have to read it. Thanks for the wesite
You thank so much a for story this. It help me very much.
yo this story is really nice thanks.
love this story
i always listen to natasha’s stories, my favourites are jack and the beanstalk, goldilocks and little red riding hood.
I am three years old and i like storynory better than TV!!
thank you natasha
from your little friend Fatimah Zahra from Birmingham, England.
Fatimah, Thank you for your comment. It’s great that you like Storynory better than TV !! Although TV has its place, it’s very important to listen and let your imagination run free.
Hi my name is Shelby. I am 8 years old. I love this story because i don’t have this story book.
This was a really goood story and Natasha reallly helped because it is easier when she read it. Thank you somuch.
Such a lovely voice you have, Natasha! Thanks for the nice reading! Such nice pictures too!
This story is a bit unfair on the ogre. After all Jack stole stuff from him but the ogre ended up dead. Apart why Jack also steal this golden harp?
I LIKE THIS STORY.IN THIS STORY YOU MAKE A LITTLE MISTAKE THAT YOU WRITE AX AND THE CORRECT SPELLING IS AXE.
Thanks Maria. Will correct it in a minute
I like storynory a lot.
Jack and the beanstock was really cool and im already 11 years old!
Jack and the beanstock was really cool and im already 11 years old!
hi im amy love your store
i listen this story.this is very interesting story.i enjoy whole of story.i love this.
I liked the story tremendously!
I really love your stories. Thank you for reading them
THANKS FOR CORRECTING YOUR MISTAKE.
I’m 5 years old and loved the story!
we enjoyed this story very much
The pictures are very good!
Hannah~
i wanna be rich like that that old cawardy dumbo little dog that he is. the little midget
wow this is the best
I’m richer than peter in real life~
it was boring
ok it was good but not the best
too nice
give me a good idea for a contribution for a church flower show this weekend
Buttercups and daisies
It was a very great story and i English so it was cool to here her voice and know how i sound!
really nice keep it up
very nice story……….hihi
very nice story………..hihi
My daughter loved the story. Thanks!!
cooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooolstory your good reader
i really like this story it is very interesting
i loved it very much
We read it in our class and we loved the funny voices Natasha made and loved the pictures. We loved the different version of Jack and the Beanstalk.
awsome
Great resource for kids. I like the fact that this one has illustrations. Younger children may prefer more of an ebook than just text and audio especially as the words can highlight in time to the audio and the illustrations can be animated. Fab work you guys are doing.
it helped but it wont come on to much buffering so i had to read the story
it helped but it wont come on to much buffering so i had to read the story
well atleast everyone else liked it :/
I like the story very much. Thank you.
This is a great story! I hope everyone else likes it too.
very very funny story!!
this stroy is very interesting
awesome storyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Thank you for the story
Thank you for the lovely voice and fun story
i think that jack and the beanstalk is a great story for kids and it is very cute for kids too
Very hot
great story puts my 8 year old asleep everynight
The reading is very helpful, the intonation creates the right atmosphere.Thank you for doing this good job!
I really enjoyed this story and the reading. And I am listening to it the second time now!
Thanks a lot.
hhhhhhhhahhahahhahahahhaaaaaaa so funny
i think it is great,great,great,great,great, great,great,great,great,great, great,great,great,great,great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
it is boring
that was an awsome story!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
that was the best story ever
i felt sleep after hearing this story
great story is it
i have one questiion, is the reader Irish, because of her accent sounds like iit …. and who doesent love jack and the bean stalk x)
I really like the story. Thank you.
I like it very much it helps me with my homework for sure i will visit your page again! morepower.
So boring !!!!!!!!!
Well done
I’m glad you spent time to make this website because at school we are learning to make fractured fairy tales.