# Jack and the Golden Ladder | Jack and the Beanstalk Stories for Kids

An episode of [Dorktales Storytime | Stories for Kids Who Love Big Adventures](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1527642350), 15 Oct 2026, 16 min.

Audio: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1267991/episodes/19937849-jack-and-the-golden-ladder-jack-and-the-beanstalk-stories-for-kids.mp3

Send us Fan Mail Mysterious thund-earths are shaking things up in the Folktale Forest and no one knows why. Jack suspects the Ogress is still angry over his shady shenanigans, so he builds a golden ladder to return to the land of the giants. Why would he ever want to go back? He’s on a mission to make amends for stealing a bag of gold, a hen that lays golden eggs and a golden harp. But he and his friends are in for an astonishing surprise when they discover that two big, very happy feet are the reason for all that rumbling! Looking for imaginative stories for kids? This fairy tale adventure brings Jack back to the land of the giants in a sequel to our Beanstalk episode, inspired by Jack and the Beanstalk. This time, Jack gets a chance at redemption as he tries to make amends with an ogress he wronged. • WEBPAGE: https://jonincharacter.com/jack-and-the-golden-ladder/ • FAN PAGE FUN: https://jonincharacter.com/dorktalesfans/ • MORE STORIES FOR KIDS: https://jonincharacter.com/fractured-fairy-tales/ • WORKSHEETS AND COLOR PAGE: https://bit.ly/dorktales140funsheet • GRAB YOUR FREE PDF list of conversation questions for this episode: https://dorktalesstorytime.aweb.page/ep140freePDF PARENTS, TEACHERS AND HOMESCHOOLERS: Jack and the Golden Ladder explores taking responsibility, making amends, and the unexpected outcomes of doing the right thing. As a sequel to Jack and the Beanstalk, it gives Jack a chance to acknowledge the harm he caused, sincerely apologize to the ogress, and return what he stole. When the characters assume the ogress’s anger is causing thunder and earthquakes, they also discover the importance of questioning assumptions and finding creative solutions. CREDITS: This stories for kids episode is a Jonincharacter production. It was written by Monique Hafen Adams, directed and produced by Molly Murphy, and performed by Jonathan Cormur. Sound recording and production by Jermaine Hamilton at Pacific Grove Soundworks. Four easy ways to support Dorktales to keep the mic on and the stories coming: donate, subscribe or follow, leave a review, tell a friend! All support links are here in the show notes below👇🙏 Support the show GROWNUPS: Dorktales Storytime is more than a Kids and family stories for kids podcast. Every visit to our Once Upon a Time world invites kids to discover reimagined fairy tales, fables, Greek myths, mysteries, fantasy adventures, pirate adventures, bedtime stories, Halloween stories, dinosaur stories, spy adventures, and inspiring stories about historical figures and STEAM pioneers. We believe a well-told story brings families together, opens the door to meaningful conversations, and helps every child know they belong and their imagination can change the world. REACH OUT! • Does your child have a question? Send it to us here. • We love our fans! Find free goodies: https://jonincharacter.com/dorktalesfans/ • Support Our Storytime for Kids pod: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1267991/supporters/new • Music & Lullabies: https://dorktalesstorytime.bandcamp.com/music

## Chapters

- 1:37 Thund Earths!
- 4:14 Jack's Golden Ladder
- 6:57 The Land of the Giants
- 8:54 Cluck Cluck Runs Away
- 10:31 Jack Says He's Sorry
- 12:53 The Tap Dancing Giant
- 14:36 Credits, How to Reach Us

## Transcript

[1:10] Jonathan: Hello, Dork Squad.
[1:11] Jonathan: I'm Jonathan Cormur, and you're listening to Dorktales Storytime, the podcast for kids and their pop culture loving grown-ups.
[1:23] Theme Song: It's a beautiful day for a story, adventuring glory, new friends and old ones too.
[1:30] Theme Song: It's an excellent day to get swept away in a tale, so let us regale you
[1:43] Jonathan: Hello Redge? Can I come in? Redge? Redge?
[1:45] Redge: Apologies for the mess, Jonathan, but do you think you could assist me?
[2:01] Jonathan: What have you done with your hovel, Redge?
[2:04] Redge: I have to secure everything.
[2:06] Redge: All the furniture must be hammered down, every frame fastened, every chair anchored, every trinket clamped.
[2:17] Jonathan: Why are you doing that?
[2:21] Redge: Oh no.
[2:22] Redge: Here we go again.
[2:26] Jonathan: What's happening?
[2:28] Jonathan: What just happened?
[2:36] Redge: The Folktale Forest has been plagued with thund earths lately.
[2:41] Jonathan: Did you say thund earth?
[2:44] Redge: Yes.
[2:45] Jonathan: But what's a thund earth?
[2:48] Redge: A roll of thunder followed by an earthquake.
[2:52] Jonathan: Huh.
[2:53] Jonathan: Weird.
[2:54] Redge: We've averaged two to three every day for the last week.
[2:58] Redge: The Folktale Forest cannot catch a break.
[3:01] Jonathan: Have we ever had thund earths before?
[3:05] Redge: Maybe one or two over the years.
[3:07] Redge: But not this many at once.
[3:09] Redge: It's quite a unique phenomenon.
[3:12] Jonathan: Has the weather been different in the forest?
[3:14] Redge: No.
[3:15] Redge: Not a cloud in the sky.
[3:17] Jonathan: You're right.
[3:18] Jonathan: Blue skies today.
[3:19] Jonathan: But what's that over there?
[3:22] Redge: What?
[3:23] Jonathan: Come look out the window.
[3:25] Jonathan: There's something way out on the edge of the forest.
[3:28] Redge: You mean that distant gleaming tall thing?
[3:32] Jonathan: Yes, I don't remember seeing that in the Folktale Forest before.
[3:36] Redge: What could it be?
[3:38] Jonathan: Maybe it's related to the mysterious thund earths.
[3:41] Redge: Only one way to find out.
[3:43] Redge: Come along, Jonathan.
[3:45] Jonathan: Right behind you.
[3:52] Redge: Y ou okay?
[3:53] Jonathan: Yep.
[3:54] Jonathan: Here we go.
[3:56] Jonathan: It can't be much farther.
[4:00] Jonathan: Oh my eyes! Gosh, that's bright.
[4:05] Redge: Oh dear me.
[4:06] Redge: I wish I brought my sunglasses.
[4:09] Jonathan: The sun is reflecting off something just past those trees.
[4:13] Redge: I think it's in the meadow.
[4:15] Jonathan: Redge! It's a ladder.
[4:18] Redge: A ladder made of pure gold.
[4:22] Jonathan: And look who's at the bottom of the ladder.
[4:25] Redge: Jack!
[4:26] Jack: Redge! Jonathan! Good to see you.
[4:29] Jonathan: Jack?
[4:30] Jonathan: Did you build this ladder?
[4:33] Jack: Oh, uh yes, I have.
[4:36] Redge: But where does the ladder lead?
[4:39] Jack: I'm trying to reach the land of giants.
[4:43] Jonathan: Again?
[4:44] Redge: Jack, I thought you were done stealing from the giants.
[4:48] Jack: Oh I am.
[4:49] Jack: Trust me I am.
[4:50] Jack: I've been searching for magic beans to grow another beanstalk to the sky, but I've only ever found regular beans.
[4:57] Jack: Lots and lots of regular beans.
[5:01] Redge: Lots of regular beans, you say.
[5:03] Redge: Well, I have a recipe for three bean soup that everyone just gobbles down.
[5:09] Jonathan: Yeah, it's very good.
[5:10] Jack: Sounds delicious.
[5:12] Jack: But I wish I could find magic beans.
[5:16] Redge: So you built a golden ladder instead?
[5:19] Jack: When these thund earths started, I knew that Miss Tempy Tempest, the ogress, had finally lost her patience with me, and I had to do something fast.
[5:29] Jonathan: Remember when we learned what ogres and ogresses are, Redge?
[5:34] Redge: They are big giants.
[5:36] Jonathan: That's right.
[5:37] Redge: Is Miss Tempy one of the giants?
[5:40] Jack: Yep.
[5:41] Jonathan: And you think she's causing these thund earths?
[5:44] Jack: Yep.
[5:45] Redge: Well it must be.
[5:47] Jonathan: You're telling me Miss Tempy is so angry that she's stomping around in the sky
[5:53] Jack: and making the whole forest shake beneath her.
[5:57] Jonathan: Whoa.
[5:58] Jack: It's time to say I'm sorry and return the giant ogre's hen and golden harp.
[6:06] Jonathan: The hen that lays the golden eggs?
[6:09] Jack: Yes, it's time for her to go home.
[6:11] Jack: I'm sorry, little cluck cluck.
[6:15] Jack: It's the best thing for all of us.
[6:18] Redge: Maybe that would make the thund earths stop.
[6:21] Jack: Stealing from the giants was never the right thing to do, but I'm going to make things right.
[6:26] Jack: Wanna help me?
[6:27] Redge: I've never been to the land of the giants.
[6:30] Jonathan: Me either.
[6:31] Jack: We're in.
[6:32] Jack: Baka.
[6:33] Jack: Uh-oh.
[6:37] Jack: Brace yourselves.
[6:39] Redge: Oh dear.
[6:41] Jonathan: Here comes another thund earth.
[6:46] Jack: Everyone okay?
[6:48] Redge: Just a bit shaken.
[6:50] Jack: Okay, follow me.
[6:51] Jack: There's not a moment to lose.
[6:53] Redge: Let's climb, Jonathan.
[6:55] Redge: Before another thund earth begins.
[6:58] Jonathan: Right behind you.
[6:59] Jonathan: Oh boy.
[7:03] Jonathan: It's cold up here in the land of the giants.
[7:06] Redge: Look, Jonathan, I can touch the clouds.
[7:10] Jonathan: The winds are so strong.
[7:12] Jonathan: Brrrrrr and it's rushing through all these tall buildings.
[7:19] Redge: It's a good thing I never travel without my cashmere scarf.
[7:23] Jonathan: And in your favorite shade of green.
[7:25] Redge: I have a green cable knit scarf as well if you are feeling
[7:29] Jack: Hey, those aren't buildings.
[7:31] Jonathan: They're towers of gold.
[7:34] Redge: Piles of gold at every corner.
[7:37] Jonathan: And each piece of gold is as big as a small car.
[7:41] Jack: Shh that was close.
[7:58] Redge: A real life giant.
[8:00] Redge: Her foot was bigger than my whole hovel.
[8:03] Jonathan: I don't even know if her little toe could fit inside your kitchen.
[8:07] Jack: Let's not wait around to find out.
[8:08] Jack: It looks like she's left her house for an errand.
[8:11] Jack: We'll hurry in and drop off Cluck Cluck and the Harp and get back down to the Folktale Forest.
[8:16] Redge: Righto.
[8:18] Jonathan: Let's do it.
[8:19] Redge: Wait.
[8:19] Redge: Where's Cluck Cluck?
[8:26] Jack: Oh no, Cluck Cluck, come back.
[8:30] Redge: Where is she going?
[8:32] Jack: I don't know.
[8:32] Jack: I've never explored the rest of the land of the giants.
[8:36] Jonathan: Those towers of gold seem to go on forever.
[8:39] Redge: The mist of the clouds makes it hard to see.
[8:41] Redge: I hope Cluck Cluck doesn't get lost.
[8:44] Jack: We've got to get her back inside Miss Tempy's house and get out of here.
[8:48] Jack: Maybe if we start at this big pile of gold and walk 500 paces.
[8:53] Redge: Wait, look here.
[8:55] Jonathan: Cluck Cluck has left a trail.
[8:57] Jack: Of course, a trail of golden eggs.
[9:00] Redge: Follow those eggs.
[9:19] Jonathan: Do you see Cluck Cluck anywhere?
[9:21] Redge: No, and it's starting to get hard to tell which pieces of gold are Cluck Cluck's eggs.
[9:27] Jonathan: And which are just random pieces laying about.
[9:30] Redge: Jack, did you know they had so much gold in the land of the giants?
[9:34] Jack: No, it's everywhere.
[9:37] Jack: Heaps of it.
[9:38] Jonathan: Mountains of it.
[9:40] Redge: Rivers of gold.
[9:46] Jack: There's Cluck Cluck
[9:47] Redge: standing on that massive treasure chest.
[9:50] Jonathan: Quick before she runs away again
[9:59] Jack: Oh no.
[10:00] Redge: Miss Tempy is back from her errand.
[10:03] Jonathan: Hide
[10:08] Tempy Tempest: Huh?
[10:09] Tempy Tempest: Cluck Cluck?
[10:10] Tempy Tempest: Is that you?
[10:11] Tempy Tempest: No no be off with ya
[10:17] Jack: She doesn't want Cluck Cluck back?
[10:20] Tempy Tempest: I finally cleared the house of your mess.
[10:22] Tempy Tempest: Laying gold everywhere you went.
[10:24] Tempy Tempest: I won't have it again.
[10:26] Tempy Tempest: Go on, hop it.
[10:28] Redge: How strange.
[10:30] Jonathan: I thought the giants loved gold.
[10:33] Jack: Only one way to find out.
[10:34] Jack: Excuse me, Miss Tempy Tempest.
[10:40] Tempy Tempest: Jack, is that you?
[10:42] Jack: Yes, it's me.
[10:43] Jack: I've come back to return Cluck Cluck and your golden harp.
[10:47] Jack: I'm so sorry I took them.
[10:50] Jack: At the time, we needed the gold to survive, but I shouldn't have stolen it from you.
[10:56] Redge: How brave you are, Jack.
[10:59] Jonathan: Nice work.
[11:00] Tempy Tempest: Oh, but Jack, you did me a favor.
[11:04] Jack: A favor?
[11:05] Jack: What do you mean?
[11:07] Tempy Tempest: Uh our house was filled from wall to wall with gold.
[11:11] Tempy Tempest: What a mess.
[11:13] Tempy Tempest: Cluck cluck was leaving piles of eggs in every corner of every room.
[11:19] Tempy Tempest: I couldn't handle the clutter no more.
[11:22] Redge: I'm sorry, Miss Tempy, but are you saying you didn't like having all that gold?
[11:29] Tempy Tempest: Certainly not.
[11:31] Jonathan: But didn't it make you rich to have all that gold?
[11:34] Tempy Tempest: Rich?
[11:34] Tempy Tempest: Oh no, not on the land of giants.
[11:38] Tempy Tempest: Gold is everywhere.
[11:40] Tempy Tempest: Heaps, piles, mounds, and mountains of gold.
[11:45] Jack: And it's not worth anything?
[11:48] Tempy Tempest: Oh no.
[11:49] Tempy Tempest: Worthless, useless mess.
[11:52] Tempy Tempest: A nuisance, really.
[11:54] Redge: But how do you pay for things in the land of the giants?
[11:57] Tempy Tempest: We pay for things using sticks and wood.
[12:02] Jonathan: Sticks and wood?
[12:04] Tempy Tempest: It's quite cold up here in the clouds, so we always need to keep our fires going.
[12:09] Tempy Tempest: Having sticks and wood handy is very important.
[12:12] Jack: Wait a second.
[12:13] Jack: If you're happy that I took away the golden harp and cluck Cluck
[12:19] Redge: and you like having your house cleared of gold,
[12:23] Jonathan: then why are you causing all the thund earths in the Folktale Forest?
[12:26] Tempy Tempest: Thund earths?
[12:28] Jack: A roll of thunder followed by an earthquake.
[12:31] Jonathan: Redge had to fasten down all his furniture in his hovel.
[12:34] Redge: My trinkets and knick knacks have been under attack.
[12:37] Tempy Tempest: Oh my, I don't know.
[12:40] Jack: You weren't stomping around?
[12:42] Jonathan: Pounding your feet in anger?
[12:44] Redge: Shuffling your feet in frustration?
[12:47] Tempy Tempest: I've stomped, pounded and shuffled, but not because I was angry.
[12:52] Redge: Then what were you doing?
[12:54] Tempy Tempest: I've been learning to tap dance.
[12:57] Jonathan: Tap dance?
[12:58] Jack: Tap dance?
[13:00] Tempy Tempest: Yes, and it involves a lot of stomping, shuffling, pounding, and the occasional fa lap ball change.
[13:07] Redge: Oh you're telling me.
[13:09] Tempy Tempest: Stomp hop step fa lap stomp hop step fa lap stomp hop step fa lap
[13:16] Redge: Oh dear.
[13:17] Jonathan: Hold on!
[13:18] Jack: Wow, amazing.
[13:20] Jack: But this is what's making all of the Folktale Forest shake.
[13:26] Tempy Tempest: Oh crumbs.
[13:27] Tempy Tempest: Just when I was starting to get good.
[13:30] Jack: Well, I don't think you need to quit.
[13:32] Jonathan: There must be a solution.
[13:34] Redge: Wait, my scarf!
[13:36] Jonathan: Yes, it is a really nice scarf.
[13:39] Redge: No no no.
[13:40] Redge: I know just the thing to fix this, and it all starts with a scarf.
[13:46] Jack: Huh?
[13:47] Redge: Miss Tempy, do you have any knitwear?
[13:51] Redge: Okay.
[13:58] Redge: Now give it a try.
[14:01] Tempy Tempest: Stomp hop, step fa lap, stomp hop, step fa lap.
[14:05] Jonathan: Voila!
[14:07] Jack: Great work, Redge
[14:09] Tempy Tempest: Who knew?
[14:10] Tempy Tempest: A few of my scarves, a couple of blankets, and a pillow under a large piece of plywood would mute my stomps and shuffles.
[14:19] Jack: Genius!
[14:21] Redge: A good scarf has many uses.
[14:24] Tempy Tempest: Everyone together now.
[14:26] All: Stomp hop step fa lap.
[14:28] All: Stomp hop step fa lap.
[14:31] All: Cluck Cluck!
[14:34] Tempy Tempest: Not in the house, Cluck Cluck!
[14:39] Jonathan: This has been a Jon in Character production.
[14:42] Jonathan: This story was written by Monique Hafen Adams, edited by Molly Murphy, and performed by Jonathan Cormur.
[14:48] Jonathan: Sound recording and production by Jermaine Hamilton at Pacific Grove Soundworks.
[14:53] Jonathan: We love hearing from you.
[14:55] Jonathan: Contact us at Dorktalesstorytime at gmail.com or try our one-way text feature as a safe way to reach out.
[15:03] Jonathan: You can find even more ways to reach us in the show notes.
[15:06] Jonathan: Now, go be the hero of your own story, and we'll see you next once upon a time.
[15:12] Theme Song: So gather your squad for all to see. It's a universe that we've imagined. There's twists and turns and lessons learned. This is where the unexpected happens. Join our humble hosts and hit the trail of the wonderful, wacky, wild world of Dorktales.

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