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Los gigantes de Groil
Desde el país de los gigantes, Groil, una chica llamada Jumbelia se muere de ganas de conocer a la gente pequeña, los dimiplops. La mayoría de los gigantes no cree que los dimiplops existan, y allá abajo, en la tierra, los humanos tampoco creen en los gigantes.
¿Serán muy muy dimis? ¿Igaul de dimis que su dedo dimi? Jumbelia sabe que plantando una habichuela gigante en el país de los dimiplops podrá descender hasta allí a través de su tallo y coleccionar cosas de ese mundo tan pequeño.
Mientras ella baja por el abimplant, los hermanos Jones juegan en el jardín de su casa y no saben que están a punto de encontrarse con un problema gigante.
¿Serán muy muy dimis? ¿Igaul de dimis que su dedo dimi? Jumbelia sabe que plantando una habichuela gigante en el país de los dimiplops podrá descender hasta allí a través de su tallo y coleccionar cosas de ese mundo tan pequeño.
Mientras ella baja por el abimplant, los hermanos Jones juegan en el jardín de su casa y no saben que están a punto de encontrarse con un problema gigante.
205 pages, Hardcover
First published August 5, 2004
35 people are currently reading
357 people want to read
About the author
Julia Donaldson
1,225 books1,904 followersGrowing up
I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).
Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us. A wind-up gramophone wafted out Chopin waltzes.
I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married.
Busking and books
Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.
The busking led to a career in singing and songwriting, mainly for children’s television. I became an expert at writing to order on such subjects as guinea pigs, window-cleaning and horrible smells. “We want a song about throwing crumpled-up wrapping paper into the bin” was a typical request from the BBC.
I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs.
One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading.
My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes.
I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.
Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers.
When I’m not writing I am often performing, at book festivals and in theatres. I really enjoy getting the children in the audience to help me act out the stories and sing the songs. When Malcolm can take time off from the hospital he and his guitar come too. and it feels as if we’ve come full circle - back to busking.
I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).
Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us. A wind-up gramophone wafted out Chopin waltzes.
I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married.
Busking and books
Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.
The busking led to a career in singing and songwriting, mainly for children’s television. I became an expert at writing to order on such subjects as guinea pigs, window-cleaning and horrible smells. “We want a song about throwing crumpled-up wrapping paper into the bin” was a typical request from the BBC.
I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs.
One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading.
My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes.
I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.
Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers.
When I’m not writing I am often performing, at book festivals and in theatres. I really enjoy getting the children in the audience to help me act out the stories and sing the songs. When Malcolm can take time off from the hospital he and his guitar come too. and it feels as if we’ve come full circle - back to busking.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
April 7, 2012
This is not a gentle bedtime story. Rather, it is an exciting adventure with violence (almost) worthy of the Grimms. I read it with my (then) 7 year old and there were gasps and tears in a couple of places, and I was a bit surprised at some of the peril the human children found themselves in as toys of the giant girl Jumbelia. This is not to say that it's inherently a problem, but it is perhaps better as a shared read for younger or more sensitive readers. To be honest, it's probably more of a statement about how sanitised many kids' stories have become, and it's certainly true that the violence in this story is easily matched by many cartoons, but somehow it is more surprising enacted on human characters in a book.
The story features an invented language for the giants, with a glossary at the back. (Although for us, reading on a Kindle, we didn't really see this until the end.) Most of the words are guessable in context anyway, and when there are whole songs or sayings in the giant language, the English translation is given in the main text. This language is fun, playful and inventive, and I'm sure most child readers will bring some of the giants' words into their play as my daughter did.
For all the excitement and adventure, there is a moral core to this story which encourages children to think before making pets or toys of wild creatures. Children will not experience this as moralising, but they will absorb the messages about how the children are treated by Jumbelia, who doesn't mean them any harm, but also doesn't quite see them as living creatures who can be hurt.
Overall, I'd recommend this for fans of Donaldson's picture books who are ready to move onto chapter books at bedtime. For the more delicate among them, though, her Princess Mirror-Belle adventures might be more suitable.
The story features an invented language for the giants, with a glossary at the back. (Although for us, reading on a Kindle, we didn't really see this until the end.) Most of the words are guessable in context anyway, and when there are whole songs or sayings in the giant language, the English translation is given in the main text. This language is fun, playful and inventive, and I'm sure most child readers will bring some of the giants' words into their play as my daughter did.
For all the excitement and adventure, there is a moral core to this story which encourages children to think before making pets or toys of wild creatures. Children will not experience this as moralising, but they will absorb the messages about how the children are treated by Jumbelia, who doesn't mean them any harm, but also doesn't quite see them as living creatures who can be hurt.
Overall, I'd recommend this for fans of Donaldson's picture books who are ready to move onto chapter books at bedtime. For the more delicate among them, though, her Princess Mirror-Belle adventures might be more suitable.
July 2, 2023
Esti mesének túl izgalmas volt, olyan függővégekkel, hogy teljesen kész voltak a kölkök, valahányszor azt mondtam, hogy akkor holnap innen folytatjuk. Voltak benne egészen ijesztő részek is, kicsiknek semmiképp nem ajánlott, a borító szerint is 8-12 éveseknek való.
A karakterek nagyon szerethetők vagy nagyon utálhatók voltak, a gyerekek kedvence Poppy, a legkisebb tesó volt, aki teljesen egyedi (nyitott, derűs) hozzáállással viselte a megpróbáltatásokat, de azért időnként általa emlékeztette Donaldson az olvasót leginkább arra, hogy gyerekekről van szó.
Nagyon tetszett az égig érő paszuly óriás szemszögből alapötlete, a felelős kisállattartásra nevelés, na és az óriások saját nyelve! A könyv végén találunk szótárt is hozzá, de természetesen legtöbbször tisztán értettük a helyzetből, hogy mit mondanak. Bravúros, Julia Donaldson nagyobbaknak is ajánlott olvasmány.
A karakterek nagyon szerethetők vagy nagyon utálhatók voltak, a gyerekek kedvence Poppy, a legkisebb tesó volt, aki teljesen egyedi (nyitott, derűs) hozzáállással viselte a megpróbáltatásokat, de azért időnként általa emlékeztette Donaldson az olvasót leginkább arra, hogy gyerekekről van szó.
Nagyon tetszett az égig érő paszuly óriás szemszögből alapötlete, a felelős kisállattartásra nevelés, na és az óriások saját nyelve! A könyv végén találunk szótárt is hozzá, de természetesen legtöbbször tisztán értettük a helyzetből, hogy mit mondanak. Bravúros, Julia Donaldson nagyobbaknak is ajánlott olvasmány.
September 20, 2011
The Giants and the Joneses
By Julia Donaldson
‘The Giants and the Joneses’ written by Julia Donaldson, focuses on the experience of three young children who are captured by a young girl giant, Jumbeelia. In the book there are two distinct worlds, the human world and the giant world. Throughout the book I was struck by a number of parallels to other famous stories that would be familiar to a young child such as ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and the BFG, one of my previous book reviews.
A main theme of the book is the idea of learning to understand another culture/world. The children initially view the young girl giant, their kidnapper, as the enemy. As the story develops towards the conclusion there is a clear emotional attachment between the three children and the girl giant. When the children are eventually released it is clear that both the children and the giant are sad at this prospect. In the novel the dichotomy between good and bad is unclear and at the end of the story we are made aware of the value of ‘the family’. The misunderstandings between the families are overcome as the story unfolds. Both the human and giant families share more similarities than differences. This is a particularly useful theme to discuss with children as part of multi- cultural awareness.
The author does not describe the Giant world as a fantasy world as seen in the BFG. Instead the giant world is portrayed as a human world. The sense of a different world is therefore created by the use of specific language devises. The giants speak a completely different language to that of the humans who are continuously referred to as ‘iggly pops’. The words are easy to pronounce and a separate vocabulary is located in the back of the book for easy reference. This provides a good exercise in using references. The frequent pen& ink images are simple and are used effectively to visually express certain key moments in the story.
Attention is paid to the emotional connection between the three young children, making their relationship more believable and allowing the reader to be more involved with the characters. Initial arguments between the human children make way for greater collaboration. This strengthens the idea that shared problems and hardships provide the right environment for relationships to strengthen. Collette discovers that she and the giant have similar hobbies such as their desire to collect things. Collette also starts to realise that she and the giant have a similar outlook and personality which allows her to question her initial fear and dislike of the giant.
The book was both fascinating and a delight to read. It contained themes of understanding and respect for others, the importance of teamwork. The book is appropriate for KS2 and could be a starting point for a wider discussion on cultural diversity and working together. The BFG is hard to beat as a novel but ‘The Giants and the Joneses’ is a good story told simply and would stimulate a child’s imagination.
By Julia Donaldson
‘The Giants and the Joneses’ written by Julia Donaldson, focuses on the experience of three young children who are captured by a young girl giant, Jumbeelia. In the book there are two distinct worlds, the human world and the giant world. Throughout the book I was struck by a number of parallels to other famous stories that would be familiar to a young child such as ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and the BFG, one of my previous book reviews.
A main theme of the book is the idea of learning to understand another culture/world. The children initially view the young girl giant, their kidnapper, as the enemy. As the story develops towards the conclusion there is a clear emotional attachment between the three children and the girl giant. When the children are eventually released it is clear that both the children and the giant are sad at this prospect. In the novel the dichotomy between good and bad is unclear and at the end of the story we are made aware of the value of ‘the family’. The misunderstandings between the families are overcome as the story unfolds. Both the human and giant families share more similarities than differences. This is a particularly useful theme to discuss with children as part of multi- cultural awareness.
The author does not describe the Giant world as a fantasy world as seen in the BFG. Instead the giant world is portrayed as a human world. The sense of a different world is therefore created by the use of specific language devises. The giants speak a completely different language to that of the humans who are continuously referred to as ‘iggly pops’. The words are easy to pronounce and a separate vocabulary is located in the back of the book for easy reference. This provides a good exercise in using references. The frequent pen& ink images are simple and are used effectively to visually express certain key moments in the story.
Attention is paid to the emotional connection between the three young children, making their relationship more believable and allowing the reader to be more involved with the characters. Initial arguments between the human children make way for greater collaboration. This strengthens the idea that shared problems and hardships provide the right environment for relationships to strengthen. Collette discovers that she and the giant have similar hobbies such as their desire to collect things. Collette also starts to realise that she and the giant have a similar outlook and personality which allows her to question her initial fear and dislike of the giant.
The book was both fascinating and a delight to read. It contained themes of understanding and respect for others, the importance of teamwork. The book is appropriate for KS2 and could be a starting point for a wider discussion on cultural diversity and working together. The BFG is hard to beat as a novel but ‘The Giants and the Joneses’ is a good story told simply and would stimulate a child’s imagination.
May 21, 2012
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My daughters and I hated this book. Three kids are kidnapped by a young giant who has a sadist Dudly Dursley-esqe big brother, and are essentially tortured for a month before barely escaping with their lives. It's horrifying. Plus, it doesn't resolve the humans' story. Where do their parents think they were for a month? Terrible.
My daughters and I hated this book. Three kids are kidnapped by a young giant who has a sadist Dudly Dursley-esqe big brother, and are essentially tortured for a month before barely escaping with their lives. It's horrifying. Plus, it doesn't resolve the humans' story. Where do their parents think they were for a month? Terrible.
February 26, 2012
i do not recommend this it was hard to read with the different language. i had to keep jumping to the back of the bok for some of the words meanings.
October 29, 2017
yes, kids stories should not be brimmed with realistic situations, but if its not the latter, there's magic, fantasy, wonder and/or adventures - all of which wrap up the notion of life with fantastic enchantment, without failing to be some kind of relevant parallel to reality.
this book gave me none from the above. Rather, found it pointless.
this book gave me none from the above. Rather, found it pointless.
September 29, 2008
Not to judge a book by its cover. I thought this would be a very juvenile book but was surprised by some of the characters and their actions. It is definately meant to be for 4th to 6th grade readers.
February 18, 2009
Giant little girl collects 3 kids for her pets. Be kind to your hamster!
June 29, 2016
I recommend this book to my brother, and my sister, and everyone around. My favorite part was where the giant met the kids.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 25, 2017
Wordplay abounds in an enjoyable story of giants and 'little people' - us!
After so many of her picture books, I was curious to see Julia Donaldson's skill at, not only prose, but a book for older children.
You are unlikely to recognise her trademark style here, a prose story about giants and humans, but the usual readability is there, and her way with words.
A young giant, Jumbeelia, believes her mother's stories about little people (iggly plops) and, as a collector, determines to go out and find some and add them to her collections. Managing to grow and climb down a beanstalk, she comes across the Jones children, a brother and two sisters. They suddenly find themselves in a sack with a sheep and sit-on lawn mower and on the move...
And so here starts the story of their escape and their adventures in the giant world. It's a great reversal story for children, seeing themselves as the toy, the plaything, the tiny object.
I loved the giant language, many words of which you can see roots of in English. Thank goodness for the glossary!! There are two actually, one English-Giant (not sure why - for fun after reading?) and the other Giant-English, which I had bookmarked as I went along!
A great little adventure story, not too long and with a lot of chapters. Could be read to younger children but the wordplay will appeal most to the 8 and above age range.
Definitely one to try if you have a fan of Donaldson now grown out of picture books, a fan of fairy tales that are a little different, or just someone in need of an appealing story. Gender neutral, with strong central characters of both sexes.
I'd like this to be used as a class reader, it would form a brilliant basis for creative writing in giant language, and lots of word games and imaginative tasks based on the giant world.
After so many of her picture books, I was curious to see Julia Donaldson's skill at, not only prose, but a book for older children.
You are unlikely to recognise her trademark style here, a prose story about giants and humans, but the usual readability is there, and her way with words.
A young giant, Jumbeelia, believes her mother's stories about little people (iggly plops) and, as a collector, determines to go out and find some and add them to her collections. Managing to grow and climb down a beanstalk, she comes across the Jones children, a brother and two sisters. They suddenly find themselves in a sack with a sheep and sit-on lawn mower and on the move...
And so here starts the story of their escape and their adventures in the giant world. It's a great reversal story for children, seeing themselves as the toy, the plaything, the tiny object.
I loved the giant language, many words of which you can see roots of in English. Thank goodness for the glossary!! There are two actually, one English-Giant (not sure why - for fun after reading?) and the other Giant-English, which I had bookmarked as I went along!
A great little adventure story, not too long and with a lot of chapters. Could be read to younger children but the wordplay will appeal most to the 8 and above age range.
Definitely one to try if you have a fan of Donaldson now grown out of picture books, a fan of fairy tales that are a little different, or just someone in need of an appealing story. Gender neutral, with strong central characters of both sexes.
I'd like this to be used as a class reader, it would form a brilliant basis for creative writing in giant language, and lots of word games and imaginative tasks based on the giant world.
September 16, 2019
I loved any story that had the theme of The Borrowers when I was a child. I did not, unfortunately, enjoy this one at all. I won't go in to a lot depth as to why, because maybe it's ok for the target audience, and there's no one glaring awfulness about it, but other than some cute illustrations I just don't know what this has going for it.
February 3, 2024
Amé este libro de principio a fin. Julia Donaldson nos invita a sumergirnos en una entretenida y cautivadora reversión (o reescritura) del cuento de Juan y las habichuelas mágicas. Me encantó esta relación entre gigantes y humanos donde nada es simple, no es sencilla y tampoco está exenta de peligros y de maldad. Personajes muy bien configurados que evolucionan a través de la historia pero por sobre todo, que no subestima a ningún lector. Un libro lleno de acción, humor y por sobre todo, un idioma nuevo que nos sumerge en el mundo de Groil. Me recordó por partes a El gigante bonachón de Roald Dahl. La verdad, una lectura de esas que son un momento mágico, divertido y cautivador. Esas lecturas necesarias para debernos y decir: yo también quiero aprender a hablar groilés.
January 26, 2022
This book takes the tale of Jack and the Beanstalk and turns it around. Jumbeelia the giant girl goes down the beanstalk (bimplestonk) and takes 3 children back to giant land. The adventures start as the children try to get back home.
The book is interspersed with Groilish (giant language) words and I found this was a good way to check that the boys were understanding the story. They were quick to understand that a whackleclack was a button based on the language around the unusual word. There is also a dictionary at the back for reference.
This was really enjoyable to read as a family as it was a great, descriptive story.
The book is interspersed with Groilish (giant language) words and I found this was a good way to check that the boys were understanding the story. They were quick to understand that a whackleclack was a button based on the language around the unusual word. There is also a dictionary at the back for reference.
This was really enjoyable to read as a family as it was a great, descriptive story.
October 22, 2019
It pains me to say so, because I adore Julia Donaldson's picture books, but this was not enjoyable. The Groilish language & glossary and the back-and-forth of continually having to look things up was tedious. It interrupted the flow of the story terribly.
I didn't like really any of the characters either. Most were bratty or hard other glaring character flaws. I suppose the one good thing my daughter and I came away with from this story was the importance of taking care of your pets - and not forgetting about them. Unfortunately, I'm really glad the book is over.
I didn't like really any of the characters either. Most were bratty or hard other glaring character flaws. I suppose the one good thing my daughter and I came away with from this story was the importance of taking care of your pets - and not forgetting about them. Unfortunately, I'm really glad the book is over.
March 5, 2023
There is a made up language in this book called Groilish. It is actually quite funny and my favorite word is 'whackleclack'.
The story is about 3 giants and 3 human children. One of the giant children, Zab, trapped one of the human children in his garden for about three days. The only thing he could eat was raspberries, but they were huge. I think this wasn't a very good thing of Zab to do because he was controlling the human child because he didn't want the human child to be free. I think children should be free. But this story isn't real, it's just made up.
The story is about 3 giants and 3 human children. One of the giant children, Zab, trapped one of the human children in his garden for about three days. The only thing he could eat was raspberries, but they were huge. I think this wasn't a very good thing of Zab to do because he was controlling the human child because he didn't want the human child to be free. I think children should be free. But this story isn't real, it's just made up.
July 26, 2024
A mixture of Jack and Beanstalk, BFG, and Borrowers. I enjoyed reading it. And think my kids would enjoy it as well. Once some of them are little bit older and understand little better difference between real life and imagination.
January 30, 2020
Quirky, weird and funny, also disturbing sometimes. A great way to show the kids not to be cruel to smaller beings.
December 21, 2021
I didn’t like the book english cover. Got me out of a reader lock. 3.97/5
October 29, 2023
A good nostalgia hit.
June 12, 2020
Sweet with moderately developed characters. A quick read asking you to question who really was ill treated in 'Jack and the Beanstalk'.
September 3, 2021
It was a great book.Though I think if I was in those conditions I wouldn't survive.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 6, 2016
It is an easy pleasure to spend a couple of hours in Donaldson's company. Her shorter, more familiar picture books are at the forefront of their genre and The Giants and the Joneses is a highly enjoyable novel for that difficult age group, the move from the Gruffalo to Narnia and beyond. She bridges the gap quite nicely with an action packed fairy tale twist story with plenty of real danger, light humour and fantasy silliness. Children familiar with Jack and the Beanstalk will get their kicks out of the story's clever reversal - Giant throws down some beans to climb down to the human world and collect some human pets for herself.
The human's she finds are three siblings. The middle sister is a collector, mirroring the giant, and there is a not so subtle message in the tale, preaching respect and care for all living things. The giant sees the humans as the girl sees her snails. Its a nice little perspective switch for a young reader. The older brother is predictably the grumpy tease who will, of course, become the older brother who looks after them and protects them. The little sister, barely speaking in full sentences, is of course the one who, despite her lack of years, finds a way to communicate and befriend the giant. They are typecast characters, the giant family as well, but they are three dimensional enough to carry the story and make you enjoy the ride.
The particularly charming part of the story is the giant's language, made up of nonsense words on the page and complimented with a dictionary at the back of the book. It's not a gimick, it really is part of the story and I imagine will be a source of fascination for any children interested in words. For bilingual children it is an especially interesting aspect of the story. It is fitting that the youngest, the linguistic sponge, who soaks up enough giantish vocabulary to be able to finally converse with their kidnapper. It's also a nice way of promoting index skills and searching for words. Donaldson keeps it simple and silly, most of the words sound childishly hillarious, and it really works.
The second half of the story is a rollocking escape filled with deadly challenges - a tormenting giant brother, duels with giant wasps and spiders, untrained, massive kittens, traversing stairways and big gaps, baths with waves and open plugholes, mad old giants traumatised by the loss of his teddy years past, chases on a miniature lawn mower and a wonderfully morbid moment when a tiny sheep is apparently flushed down the toilet. It's fun, funny and scary at times, just showing how frightening tales of a Grim nature are when described and elaborated on in a modern style. A lovely first novel for budding readers. 6
The human's she finds are three siblings. The middle sister is a collector, mirroring the giant, and there is a not so subtle message in the tale, preaching respect and care for all living things. The giant sees the humans as the girl sees her snails. Its a nice little perspective switch for a young reader. The older brother is predictably the grumpy tease who will, of course, become the older brother who looks after them and protects them. The little sister, barely speaking in full sentences, is of course the one who, despite her lack of years, finds a way to communicate and befriend the giant. They are typecast characters, the giant family as well, but they are three dimensional enough to carry the story and make you enjoy the ride.
The particularly charming part of the story is the giant's language, made up of nonsense words on the page and complimented with a dictionary at the back of the book. It's not a gimick, it really is part of the story and I imagine will be a source of fascination for any children interested in words. For bilingual children it is an especially interesting aspect of the story. It is fitting that the youngest, the linguistic sponge, who soaks up enough giantish vocabulary to be able to finally converse with their kidnapper. It's also a nice way of promoting index skills and searching for words. Donaldson keeps it simple and silly, most of the words sound childishly hillarious, and it really works.
The second half of the story is a rollocking escape filled with deadly challenges - a tormenting giant brother, duels with giant wasps and spiders, untrained, massive kittens, traversing stairways and big gaps, baths with waves and open plugholes, mad old giants traumatised by the loss of his teddy years past, chases on a miniature lawn mower and a wonderfully morbid moment when a tiny sheep is apparently flushed down the toilet. It's fun, funny and scary at times, just showing how frightening tales of a Grim nature are when described and elaborated on in a modern style. A lovely first novel for budding readers. 6
March 24, 2016
When Jumbeelia throws a bimple (bean) over the edge of Groil, the land of giants, a bimplestonk (beanstalk) grows overnight. Jumbeelia descends on the bimplestonk to see if the iggly plops (humans) really do exist or a just a part of story as her mother insists. Jumbeelia not only discovers that iggly plops exist, she puts three of them in her collecting bag with an iggly blebber (sheep) and takes them back to her home in Groil.
Stephen, Collette and Poppy Jones are the humans (iggly plops) that Jumbeelia has collected. They now find themselves living in Jumbeelia 19s bedroom in her doll house subject to the whims of their captor. They can 19t communicate since none of them speak Groilish, the language of the giants. Escape seems impossible given the relative sizes of human children and a giant house. Even the stairs seem like huge cliffs to the Jones children. When Jumbeelia 19s mean brother, Zab, comes home from school the children 19s troubles multiply. How will they ever escape and find their way back home?
For readers who enjoy fractured fairy tales or who have wondered what life in the land of giants would be like. A Groilish 13English/English 13Groilish dictionary is included.
Stephen, Collette and Poppy Jones are the humans (iggly plops) that Jumbeelia has collected. They now find themselves living in Jumbeelia 19s bedroom in her doll house subject to the whims of their captor. They can 19t communicate since none of them speak Groilish, the language of the giants. Escape seems impossible given the relative sizes of human children and a giant house. Even the stairs seem like huge cliffs to the Jones children. When Jumbeelia 19s mean brother, Zab, comes home from school the children 19s troubles multiply. How will they ever escape and find their way back home?
For readers who enjoy fractured fairy tales or who have wondered what life in the land of giants would be like. A Groilish 13English/English 13Groilish dictionary is included.
June 20, 2014
The giants and the Joneses is a modern progression of the Jack and the beanstalk fairytale. The story swaps point of view from initially following Jumbeelia, a young Giant girl who likes collecting things and exploring to her latest collection, a sibling trio of humans who are it seems, equally dysfunctional. Jumbeelia finds her family to be hard work, especially her younger brother who is away at boarding school. On an escapade down the beanstalk she encounters something fantastical, something that's not supposed to be real, little people. The book then switches to focus on the siblings ordeal as captives and how each of them grows to understand more about themselves as they understand more about Jumbeelia and her family.
A wonderful story full of warmth. I found the giants' language quite jarring to begin with but enjoyed the challenge of figuring out the English equivalent words as the book went on. I think this would be a good read for primary children at year 4-6, as they may already be familiar with the jack and the beanstalk story.
Very enjoyable
A wonderful story full of warmth. I found the giants' language quite jarring to begin with but enjoyed the challenge of figuring out the English equivalent words as the book went on. I think this would be a good read for primary children at year 4-6, as they may already be familiar with the jack and the beanstalk story.
Very enjoyable
July 11, 2013
Jumbeelia can't wait to climb down the bimplestonk (beanstalk) and find the iggly plops (little people) that crazy old Throg has spoken about so many times. Jumbeelia actually believes the story and KNOWS there are iggly plops down at the bottom of the bimplestonk. So...she climbs down and much to her surprise, there really are little people. She sees siblings Stephen, Collette, and Poppy Jones (and a sheep), and carries them home.
The kids are scared and are about to encounter all sorts of dangers...not the least of which is Jumbeelia's mean, cruel brother Zag, who tortures and mistreats the little people for fun. They have to get back home....but how?
The Giants and the Joneses is a retelling (of sorts) of Jack and the Beanstalk. It has its own unique Grolish language which is translated in the back of the book. A little too frightening for small kids and not the best of retellings, but a quick, imaginative story nonetheless.
The kids are scared and are about to encounter all sorts of dangers...not the least of which is Jumbeelia's mean, cruel brother Zag, who tortures and mistreats the little people for fun. They have to get back home....but how?
The Giants and the Joneses is a retelling (of sorts) of Jack and the Beanstalk. It has its own unique Grolish language which is translated in the back of the book. A little too frightening for small kids and not the best of retellings, but a quick, imaginative story nonetheless.
June 16, 2016
In the land of the Giants, no-one really believes that humans exist, apart from one old man obsessed with keeping watch for beanstalks appearing out of the mist. A little girl (who isn't that little because she is a giant, after all) reads and rereads the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, and one day decides to find out if there really are 'iggly plops' far below her world. From her point of view, she is adding to her collections of interesting things, in much the same way as a human child might pick up a snail or a beetle. But for the three kidnapped children, it's the beginning of a series of terrifying ordeals.
June 28, 2011
I'm not sure whether I liked this one or not. The giant kids were obnoxious, and I wasn't too fond of the human kids either. And the giant's language bothered me; it was silly and distracted me. I didn't really dislike it, though. I got through it quickly and it was cute. I heard mostly negative things about it, to be honest, so I was surprised that it wasn't ridiculously infantile, in the end. I suspect younger kids would like it a LOT more than I did, though. It was okay, but nothing to write home about.
May 26, 2014
We loved the new language in this book, learning what the giants called things like a sheep or grass or a frenchfry. It was certainly an exciting adventure but it did have moments that I thought were a bit violent or scary for my little guy. The older brother giant makes the "iggly plop" kids fight bees and giant worms and there's a scene where they almost drown in the bath tub.
But overall, it's a fun story that continues where Jack & the beanstalk leaves off. And it all turns out good in the end. :)
But overall, it's a fun story that continues where Jack & the beanstalk leaves off. And it all turns out good in the end. :)
February 12, 2016
I want to call it cute because it's an easy-to-read, short story about a fun topic. However, it's actually quite the adventure story and even scary in places. I love the use of giant language. It's amazing that the author could come up with such perfect words -- although they have no seeming relevance to English, they're mostly quite obvious in meaning (what else could a strimpchogger be than a lawn mower?).
October 15, 2009
I loved this story! I loved how Jumbeelia had a messy room just like me. They speak in "giant language", and I like how in their language a kitten is called a "spratkin". This is a fun story with good adventure, a twist on the classic "Jack and the Beanstalk", we see what it's like to be a giant!
My mom and I have read this book 3 times in 3 years...we both really like it!
My mom and I have read this book 3 times in 3 years...we both really like it!
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