Jack Climbing A Giant Beanstalk

The beanstalk runs the whole height of this page as one huge twisting column, its surface grooved with long vertical lines that follow the twist. A boy is caught partway up it, one arm hooked around the stem and the other reaching higher, his knees bent and his boots braced against the side. He is drawn small against the stalk on purpose, and that difference in scale is what sells the idea that the plant grew overnight into something enormous. Curling tendrils spring out from the stem at intervals, each one coiling into a loose spiral before it ends, and broad leaves unfurl between them. Those tendrils reward patience because the lines inside them are narrow and there are a lot of them. Over on the left a bank of cloud builds in rounded lobes, with a few small circles drifting below it. This is one of the more detailed sheets in the fairy tale set, so it suits an older child or a quiet afternoon rather than a quick five minutes. A useful approach is to shade the stalk first in one tone, then work outward through the leaves and tendrils so the plant reads as a single growing thing.