Rumpelstiltskin

Zelinsky, Paul O. Rumpelstiltskin. New York: Puffin Books, 1986.

I had the privilege last week of introducing my “littles” to the  story of Rumpelstiltskin.  Most of them had never heard the story before – it is always fun to share a classic story for the first time.

I prefaced the reading with information about Fairy Tales and made up characters or I would get comments about the flying on a spoon.  Paul Zelinsky choose the 1819 version of this Grimm’s Fairy Tale as the basis for his text. He includes an extensive note on the text at the close of the book to further explain the history of the story to interested readers. I love reading this book to my “littles” and using various voices for the characters.

In case you are unfamiliar with this fairy tale, it is the story of a miller’s daughter whose father falsely brags that she can spin straw into gold. She is then locked in a room full of straw on three occasions and forced to spin the straw into gold. Obviously, she cannot do it. A little man appears who agrees to do it in exchange for a gift. The final gift must be her firstborn child. She must discover the man’s name in order to keep her child. The story, as most fairy tales, does include a magical element which may require some explanation to young listeners. Paul Zelinsky won a Caldecott Honor for his beautiful paintings which illustrate this picture book.

Rumpelstiltskin is available on Amazon. Thank you for using my affiliate link which does not cost you more, but does help support this children’s literature blog.