Jack in the Beanstalk vs. Hansel and Gretel

When I was little I used to watch this show called Fairy Tale Theatre. One of the tales that was on the show was Jack and the Beanstalk and after reading the Hansel and Gretel stories, especially Molly Whuppie, I noticed that there were a lot of similarities. In Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack climbs up to a cloud and finds a house. When he knocks on the door, the wife of a giant answers the door and warns him to leave because her husband will come home soon and will want to eat Jack. In Molly Whuppie, she also encounters a giant's wife at the house she goes to, and the wife tells her the same thing. In both tales Molly and Jack get in to the house, regardless of what the wife tells them and when the giant comes home he smells the children in both stories they say the whole "Fee, fie, fo, fum" chant. Both Jack and Molly end up escaping the giant and yet they both still go back to steal from the giant. I know that the tale of Molly Whuppie came first, so this makes me wonder if Jack and the Beanstalk was modeled after Molly Whuppie, or if it was just a coincidence that the tales are so similar.

Outside Reading List

Book 1: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Author: J.K. Rowling
Picture book? No
Posting date and/or number (3) Jan. 27

Book 2: The Wonderful Pigs of Jillian Jiggs
Author: Phoebe Gilman
Picture book: Yes
Posting date and/or number (4) Feb. 2

Book 3: Frindle
Author: Andrew Clements
Picture book: No
Posting date and/or number: (7) Feb. 23

Book 4: Clifford the Small Red Puppy
Author: Norman Bridwell
Picture book: Yes
Posting date and/or number: (8) Feb. 28

Book 5: Corduroy
Author: Don Freeman
Picture book: Yes
Posting date and/or number: (9) Mar. 3

Book 6: The Jolly Postman
Author: Janet and Allan Ahlberg
Picture book: Yes
Posting date and/or number: (10) Mar. 22

Book 7: Ramona's World
Author: Beverly Cleary
Picture book: No
Posting date and/or number: (11) Mar. 23

Book 8: The Rough-Face Girl
Author: Rafe Martin
Picture book: Yes
Posting date and/or number: (13) Mar. 30

Book 9: Junie B. Jones and her Big Fat Mouth
Author: Barbara Park
Picture book: No
Posting date and/or number: (15) Apr. 6

Book 10: Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining
Author: Anne Mazer
Picture book: No
Posting date and/or number: (18) Apr. 12