The Giants and the Joneses

By Julia Donaldson

Book Overview

Jumbeelia the young giantess loves to hear the old story about the iggly plop who climbed up the bimplestonk to the giants' land of Groil. Then, one day, she throws a bimple over the edge of Groil. Down, down, down Jumbeelia climbs--right down into the land of the iggly plops, where she discovers Colette, Poppy, and Stephen Jones; puts them into her canvas bag; and carries them back to Groil. Soon the children find themselves shut in her dollhouse, with no visible means of escape. With danger surrounding them at every turn, the children must use all their wits to survive and figure out a way to get back home. . . .

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312379617
• ISBN13: 9780312379612
• Release Date: May 2008
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 7.9"
• Age Range: 8 to 10 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 5

Customer Reviews

Delightful!

A treasure. We listened to it on tape first. Absolutely captivating, both clever and charming.

Haley's Review- Age 10

The book Giants and the Joneses was great. I liked how the book was based on Jack and the Beanstalk. I liked how the book had its own dictionary too. I recommend this book to a lot of people. I hope she writes a sequel. I can't wait to read her other books.

Iggly Plops Unite!

If you love the B.F.G by Roald dahl, if you like stories about "little people" like The Borrowers and The Littles, if you are in search of a great read aloud for your seven year old, this is the book to choose! As you know, there are no such things as giants, and the giants tell their children there are no such things as beanstalks or iggly plops. Or are there?

Totally engaging

My girls - 5 and 8 - love this book. I read it to them three months ago and we still talk about "igglyplops" and "bealy" things. The story is compelling -- three kids in a world of giants. The giants have their own language, but kids can identify with the giant childrens' normal everyday lives. There's an imagined world, suspense, and siblings who grow to love one another -- who could ask for anything else?

Visit the Land of the Giants

The Giants and the Joneses begins where Jack and the Beanstalk leaves off. In our time, the Giants of the land of Groil still tell the story of "Jack and the Beanstalk." But no one really believes in the "Iggly Plops" or the Little People. No one except an eight-year old giant named Jumbeelia. Jumbeelia drops a bean over the edge of Groil and the next day she climbs down a giant beanstalk where she collects a few new toys - including the three Jones children. This is a fun story with the added challenge of a make-believe giant language to decode. (A dictionary is included.) The story does get a little scary when Jumbeelia's brother captures the Jones children and mistreats them, but this shouldn't be enough to put most children off. In addition, this story may lead readers to contemplate sibling relationships, treatment of smaller, helpless creatures, and whether there may be truth in legends.