Rating: WORTHY!
Set in fairy-tale land, this book for children really stirs things up. Yes, we have the regulars here, Jack (of the Beanstalk - and can those beans talk? Well yeah, if you eat too many!), Rapunzel (of the hair today, gone tomorrow method of escapology), Red Riding Hood, and so on. But there's a new kid on the block: Anansi, who is visiting from far away. Jack also has a talking hen called Betsy, but she only seems to squawk "Whaaat?" so frankly, I'm not 100% convinced that she can actually talk at all....
From the off, Jack is suspicious of Anansi, who seems to be way-too-friendly with trolls to be on the up and up, so Jack makes a pact with the local mer-witch who can sell him a magical trick or two which might help expose the Anansi boy. But is Anansi as bad as he's lamented, or is he merely caught in a web of his own troubles?
I loved this story for the craziness, and the chicken, and the mermaid, for the sly wit, and for Jack's schemes always seeming to trip themselves up. Story unrelenting with great ending? I recommending!
