Busy Jack
From the book A Festival for Frogs
Jack went up a beanstalk,
and Jack went up a hill.
Then Jack fell down and broke his crown
along with his friend Jill.
Then Jack jumped past a candlestick.
He also built a house.
And, as for fat, he can’t eat that.
He gives it to his spouse.
He’s known for killing giants and
he brings the winter season
with snow and frost. If he’s exhausted,
now you know the reason.
So, Jack sits in the corner now
and eats his Christmas pie.
I think that Jack deserves some slack.
He’s such a busy guy.
— Kenn Nesbitt
Copyright © 2024. All Rights Reserved.
Reading Level: Grade 2
Topics: Fairy Tales and Nursery Rhymes
Poetic Techniques: Descriptive Poems, List Poems, Repetition, Rhyme Schemes
About This Poem
Have you ever noticed that, in fairy tales and nursery rhymes, whenever there is a boy in the story, his name is often Jack? There’s Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack and Jill, Jack be Nimble, The House that Jack Built, Jack Sprat, Jack the Giant Killer, Jack Frost, and even Little Jack Horner. That’s a lot of different Jacks!
I was thinking about this recently and I realized that it could actually be the same person in all these stories. There’s no reason why the Jack who climbed the beanstalk couldn’t be the same Jack as the one who went up the hill or the one who jumped over the candlestick.
However, I figured if one person did all of these things, he would probably be pretty tired and might need a little rest in the end. And that was how this poem came about. I hope you enjoy it!
From the book A Festival for Frogs
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