Welcome to our free A1 English story! This is a simple retelling of the classic fairy tale, Jack and the Beanstalk.
Click any word you don't know to see its meaning. You can also listen to the audio while you read. We have lesson notes at the end to help you learn.
Now, let's read and enjoy the story!
Jack and his mother had a . They were .
Jack the for five . His mother was . "You sold the cow for beans?" She the beans out the window. That night, a giant grew.
The next morning, Jack saw the . He up, up, up. At the top, he saw a big .
Jack went inside. A woman said, "! My husband is a giant!" The giant came in. He said, "Fee-fi-fo-fum! I a boy!" But he did not see Jack.
The giant had a hen and a . The hen made . Jack the hen and ran. The harp cried, "Master! A boy is me!"
The giant Jack. Jack the beanstalk fast. "Mother, bring an axe!" Jack the beanstalk. The giant fell down.
Jack and his mother had the hen. They had . They were not . They were .
Jack and his mother owned a cow. They were poor.
Jack traded the cow for five magic beans. His mother got angry. She said, "You sold the cow for beans?" She threw the beans out of the window. That night, a huge beanstalk grew.
The next morning, Jack saw the beanstalk. He climbed it way up. At the top, he saw a big castle.
Jack went inside. A woman said, "Hide! My husband is a giant!" The giant came in and said, "Fee-fi-fo-fum! I smell a boy!" But he didn't see Jack.
The giant had a hen and a harp. The hen laid golden eggs. Jack took the hen and ran. The harp cried out, "Master! A boy is taking me!"
The giant chased Jack. Jack climbed down the beanstalk quickly. He shouted, "Mother, bring an axe!" Jack chopped the beanstalk. The giant fell down.
Jack and his mother now had the hen. They had golden eggs. They were not poor anymore. They were happy.
Let's look at some important words from the story. You will see them again and again in English.
- cow: a big animal that gives milk
- beans: small seeds we cook and eat - Jack had magic beans!
- beanstalk: a very tall plant from magic beans
- castle: a big, strong house for a king or a giant
- giant: a very, very big person
- hen: a bird that gives eggs
- golden eggs: eggs made of gold
- axe: a tool to cut wood
- poor: not having money
- happy: feeling good
The story uses the past simple tense to say what happened. We often add -ed to make the past, but some verbs are irregular.
Try saying the story with these verbs - it's great practice!
- Regular: look → looked, climb → climbed, chop → chopped
- Irregular: sell → sold, see → saw, take → took, run → ran, fall → fell
- "Jack sold the cow." (sell → sold)
- "He saw a big castle." (see → saw)
- "The giant fell down." (fall → fell)
The giant says some fun things. You can use these when you tell the story.
- "Fee-fi-fo-fum!" - a giant's rhyme
- "I smell a boy!" - the giant can smell Jack
- "Hide!" - the woman tells Jack to hide quickly
- "Master! A boy is taking me!" - the harp shouts for help
You know the story and the words. Can you tell the story to a friend? Start with "Jack and his mother had a cow." Use past simple verbs. Change some words: maybe a dragon instead of a giant? Have fun!
Remember: practice makes perfect!
Jack and the Beanstalk comes from an older public-domain story tradition and is best known as a public_domain_english_fairy_tale_retelling. This Yak Yacker article is an original learner retelling based on public-domain source material, so the wording here is simplified for modern learners rather than copied from one old edition.
Older printings, translations, and retellings of this story can vary quite a bit. This version is adapted for A1 Beginner learners studying English.
If you want to keep going, browse more in our English section and review the A1 English Vocabulary List. After that, try English Adjectives and Adverbs for another useful next step.
