Jack may not be handsome or clever like his brothers and might not ever amount to anything, as his mother keeps telling him, but he’s kind-hearted and that goes a long way in the world. When his brothers set off to seek their fortunes and don’t come back, it’s up to Jack to see if they’ve come to harm. And off he goes, doing good deeds along the way, winning new friends, and getting gifts that have magical powers – fairytale rewards of the best kind.

He discovers on his journey that many young men have been seeking the hand of a beautiful princess. To win her, they have to pass three tests set by her guardian, a powerful magician; those who fail end up quarrying rocks to build a great new castle. Jack manages, with a little help, to fulfill the tests, only to find that he and the princess have to flee from the wrath of the magician. But bravery and kindness ultimately win the day and make for a very happy ending.

Janet McNaughton’s first picture book is a sprightly retelling of the traditional Jack folk tale, where the foolish youngest brother manages to somehow come out on top of the pile. She’s given her story a wonderful Newfoundland twist that makes it feel really fresh, peppering her text with lilting expressions like “too kindhearted to pull weeds from the potatoes” and “I have sewn for seven weeks and seven days.” Best of all, you can almost hear McNaughton telling this story; it doesn’t get bogged down in overly wordy text but moves along at the pace of a real-time storytelling performance.

The best of Susan Tooke’s illustrations provide a real sense of place, with vistas from Trinity Bay, Gros Morne National Park, and St. John’s. But a number of her acrylic paintings try to tell too much of the story and are cluttered, particularly the one of Jack and the princess trying to escape, where we see the magician as a salmon and a dragon at the same time.