Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Thick
| Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Thick | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Book |
| Location | Artifact Spots; Bookseller |
| Sell Price | 500g |
Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Thick is the power book that makes a farmer permanently tougher. One reading adds a point of defence for the rest of the save, and unlike the defence that comes from boots or a ring it occupies nothing and can never be swapped out by accident. Artifact spots are where it hides, so it tends to arrive while a farmer is hoeing worm patches for the Museum rather than while they are looking for it. Alex is the one villager who loves being given it, which makes sense for the book with the nursery rhyme title and the gym habit. Later copies pay out combat experience, so a second find is never wasted.
The in-game description reads: Gain +1 Defense.
Overview
Defence works by taking the edge off every hit that lands. A single point is small against the deeper floors of Skull Cavern, but it applies everywhere and always, stacking on top of whatever boots and rings the farmer happens to be wearing. That is the real appeal: footwear in this game carries both defence and immunity, and the better boots are usually wanted for one of those rather than both, so a free point from a book lets a farmer wear what suits the trip instead of what keeps them alive.
Finding it is a matter of digging. Artifact spots, the little clusters of wriggling worms that appear across almost every map, give it up rarely, well under one dig in a hundred, and the odds creep upwards with every spot turned over until the book finally surfaces. A couple of spots have to be dug before it can appear at all, so the very first worm patch of a save will never produce it. Winter is the season to hunt for it, because artifact spots are far more common once the ground freezes, and a farmer walking the town and the forest with a hoe in Winter turns over dozens in a week.
From the third year the Bookseller offers a shortcut, carrying it on roughly one table in ten for a flat and expensive price. That is the fallback for a farmer whose luck never turned, and the only reliable way to finish the Well-Read achievement on a save where the hoe has produced nothing but clay.
The power lands on the first reading and is then listed on the Special Items and Powers tab, with the book itself consumed. Any later copy read hands over a hundred points of combat experience instead, which is a sensible pairing: the book that keeps a farmer alive in a fight also levels the skill that does the fighting. There is a trade too. Handing one over the Bookseller's counter, once the power has been claimed, brings back three plates of Stuffing, a hearty dish that restores a great deal of energy and that Evelyn in particular loves receiving.
Gifts
These villagers love receiving Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Thick as a gift.
| Villager | Image |
|---|---|
| Alex | 
|
Notes
This book has the most unusual gift list of the lot. Alex loves it, which no other book manages: he thinks studying is for nerds and spends his spare hours working out, so a book about being hard to hurt is the one he can get behind. Penny loves it as she loves them all, and Elliott likes it.
For dyeing it counts as orange in the pots at Emily and Haley's house on 2 Willow Lane, and as brown through the spool of the Sewing Machine with a dyeable garment in the feed.
All Books
Every entry in this group, with its key details.
| Name | Image | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Animal Catalogue | 
|
2000g |
| Bait And Bobber | 
|
500g |
| Book Of Stars | 
|
2500g |
| Book of Mysteries | 
|
3000g |
| Combat Quarterly | 
|
500g |
| Dwarvish Safety Manual | 
|
1000g |
| Friendship 101 | 
|
3000g |
| Horse: The Book | 
|
1000g |
| Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Thick | 
|
500g |
| Jewels Of The Sea | 
|
800g |
| Mapping Cave Systems | 
|
4000g |
| Mining Monthly | 
|
500g |
| Monster Compendium | 
|
2000g |
| Ol' Slitherlegs | 
|
1000g |
| Price Catalogue | 
|
1000g |
| Queen Of Sauce Cookbook | 
|
10000g |
| Raccoon Journal | 
|
1000g |
| Stardew Valley Almanac | 
|
500g |
| The Alleyway Buffet | 
|
3000g |
| The Art O' Crabbing | 
|
1000g |
| The Diamond Hunter | 
|
1000g |
| Treasure Appraisal Guide | 
|
500g |
| Way Of The Wind pt. 1 | 
|
5000g |
| Way Of The Wind pt. 2 | 
|
10000g |
| Woodcutter's Weekly | 
|
500g |
| Woody's Secret | 
|
500g |