The Thief and the Beanstalk by P.W. Catanese

I gave this book a rating of four out of five. It's obviously a spin-off from the fairy tale about Jack and the beanstalk. The grown up Jack gives three magical beans to a thief named Nick. Nick intends to climb the beanstalk and bring back treasures, just like Jack did fifty years earlier. However, Nick discovers some unexpected dangers and meets the giant's wife and sons. One son is very intelligent and creative, while the other son is strong but not very smart. Nick realizes that the two sons take after their evil father and not their kind mother. Nick must make a choice between stealing the treasure that he desperately wants and saving a special person, as well as the lives of the millions of people on Earth.

This book was more entertaining than I expected. It sat on my classroom bookshelf for a couple of years, and it always interested me. However, I always seemed to find something "better" to read. I was expecting a story much like the fairy tale, but I was surprised at the creativity of the plot. The introduction of the two evil sons was an unexpected surprise. The beanstalk itself becomes more than just a piece of the setting; it's very important to the conflict and the resolution. The characters surviving the conflict end up living happily ever after.