About the Holiday
With its long, warm days, summer is the perfect time to cook outdoors. Grilling up some delectable treats like burgers, hot dogs, steak, ribs, shrimp, and corn on the cob will satisfy a family or a crowd! And of course you can never go wrong by adding a few smoky spices to the recipe!
Jack and the Giant Barbecue
Written by Eric A. Kimmel | Illustrated by John Manders
“Once upon a time there was a boy named Jack who loved barbecue.” He loved it so much, in fact, that he would saddle up his pony and ride across the mountains of West Texas for spicy ribs or sausage. He couldn’t enjoy barbecue at home because his mother wept every time she smelled that distinctive smoky aroma. It reminded her of Jack’s daddy, and she said, “I can’t eat barbecue with my whole plate full of tears.”
Jack wanted to know the whole story, so his mother told him. Jack’s daddy had been the most famous barbecue chef in West Texas until a giant stole his cookbook and took all of his secret recipes with it. Jack’s daddy was so heartbroken that “he just keeled over and died.” After that, Jack’s mother could never eat barbecue again. At that moment, Jack promised to track down that giant and retrieve his daddy’s recipe book.
Image copyright John Manders, 2012. Courtesy of johnmanders.com.
Taking his faithful pony, Jack rode out to Mount Pecos, which he knew could take him into the sky where the giants lived. He climbed up, up, up into the clouds. From there he walked until “he began smelling something smoky and sweet, with just the right hint of vinegar and spices. Barbecue!” Jack followed his nose to an old, broken-down shack as big as a football field and as tall as a ten-story building.”
Inside, Jack found a greasy mess and a floor strewn with rib bones the size of skis. The place seemed deserted, except for the jukebox in the corner. The jukebox had grievances of her own against the giant, who had broken some pretty big promises. She told Jack just where he could find his daddy’s recipe book—hidden among her 45s “between Your Cheatin’ Heart and Pancho and Lefty.’’’ Jack climbed inside and was making his way to slot D-9 when he heard the giant come home.
The minute the giant stomped inside, he sniffed the air and bellowed, “Fee-fi-fo-fum! / A Texas boy this way has come. / I’ll dip him in salsa and pico de gallo, / and swallow him down for Cinco de Mayo.” The jukebox quickly covered for Jack, and the giant turned his attention to the “two sides of beef, ten racks of ribs, and fifty feet of sausage” in the smoker. After that little snack, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Jack was having trouble reaching the book inside the enormous jukebox, and time was wasting. Jack should not still be there when the giant woke up, the jukebox warned. With the jukebox directing, Jack tipped her over onto some rib bones, and since the floor was slick with grease, it was no problem to simply slide her out the door. Just as they got outside, though, the giant awoke wanting more barbecue—which meant he needed his recipe book. He noticed the empty space where the jukebox had been and the tracks leading out. The giant jumped in his pickup truck and “went tearing across the clouds after Jack.”
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Jack was too quick for him, though. He slipped through the clouds, down Mount Pecos, and all the way home. The giant wasn’t quite as lucky. He was going too fast to stop and mowed down every mountain in his way. “Since then West Texas has been flat as a skillet all the way to New Mexico.” And what happened to Jack and his ma? Well, with the recipe book back where it belonged, Jack opened his own restaurant. The jukebox provides just the right atmosphere. Ma works there and so does the giant—after all, where else can he get the barbecue he loves?
Eric A. Kimmel’s spicy tall tale is a little bit country, a little bit rock n’ roll and whole lotta fun. Kids who love barbecue, a wild adventure, and the twang of western humor will gobble up this re-imagined Jack and the Beanstalk story. The jilted jukebox makes for a colorful sidekick, and Kimmel’s clever escape ploy will delight kids.
John Manders has conjured up one hairy scary giant with a taste for barbecue and a nose for interlopers, and his greasy spoon, with its wagon wheel lighting fixtures and bull’s horn décor, would feel right at home in Food Network’s Restaurant Impossible line-up. The antique jukebox is ingeniously conceived, with an expressive eye created by the row of vinyl 45s. Manders’ giant imagination ramps up the humor in this smokin’ hot story.
Ages 6 – 8
Two Lions, 2012 | ISBN 978-0761461289
If you’d like to learn more about Eric A. Kimmel and his books as well as hear him read some of his books aloud, visit his website!
You can step right inside John Manders’ studio and take a look around by visiting his website!
National Grilling Month Activity
Backyard Cooking Fun Coloring Page
While you’re waiting for that tasty barbecue to grill up tangy and delicious, gather your pencils, crayons, or markers and enjoy this printable Backyard Cooking Fun Coloring Page.
Picture Book Review
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