LAZY JACK

by Tony Ross ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1986

A colloquial retelling of the familiar English folk tale, which has been through many variants including the American ""Epaminandos."" Lazy Jack's mother can't take it anymore. She gives her son an ultimatum: he must find work or she won't feed him, and he'll have to wash his own socks, too. So Jack finds work on a farm, and receives as pay a gold coin which he loses on his way home. His mother yells, ""Dodo!. . . You should have put it in your pockets"" Next, he tends cows and puts his wages in his pocket, but a pocket isn't a good place to pour milk. And so it goes until he carries home a donkey on his back, going by a princess who has never laughed. She finds Jack so ridiculous that she bursts out laughing, and her parents, overjoyed that she is no longer sad, marry her to the man who made her laugh. She is happy to have such a funny husband. ""And Jack was happiest of all because he never had to work again."" This timeless simpleton story is well served by Ross's watercolor illustrations. Jack is an insouciant, oblivious hero, suitably wide-eyed and ingenuous; bright colors and a free, unhackneyed style add to the humor.

Pub Date: March 1, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dial

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1986

Categories: CHILDREN'S