Customer Reviews

The Rainbow Goblins

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

My mother read this book to me as a child. I thought the book was lost long ago. Last night, unpacking boxes, I discovered it. My husband sat down and read it to me while I cried, lost in memory.

This is truly a beautiful book, with exquisite paintings, and a wonderful story... one of those stories that teaches why things are the way they are (like How the Elephant got it's trunk, or other similar fables). A story of nature triumphing over greed. Honestly though, it was never about the story for me. It was about the beautiful paintings the books contains, their vivid colors, and the details contained therein. I will be buying a copy for each of my children, so that they can enjoy this wonderful book throughout their lives, just like I did.

I was given this book when 1st published. My copy is 16&1/2 x 13&1/2 and it is my all time favorite book. I have introduced many people to it over the years but I have the only copy I know of. I recently read it to my sons pre school class of 3 and 4 year olds and they were mesmerised. The triumph of the rainbow is classic, love conquers all. It thrills me to know that this book is still available for purchase. Even if the story does not touch you the glorious artwork will. It will fortify the Golden Rule to all who read it.

I am pretty far along in college now, and my mother called me home recently to go through some of my old stuff to see what needed to be thrown out, and what needed to be kept. I ran across my old Rainbow Goblins book, and sat in my room and read it for the first time in at least ten years. I don't remember who gave it to me...but I was really small. Tears came to my eyes as I smelled the pages and remembered my childhood. Something about the smell of the pages, mixed with the Eden-like paintings was incredibly nostalgic. The book was falling apart from childhood wear-and-tear, so I came back to school and put the pictures up on my wall... Sometimes I lean up against the wall and smell them.

Dinah

This book has wonderful full page illustrations that children love. It's a great choice for children learning colors, and has a storyline that children love to hear again and again. The pages also have about a paragraph each so it's great for a midlevel reader.

It's hard to believe that 15 years have passed since the original publication of The Rainbow Goblins. I read it then and was delighted with the simple yet moving story of the rainbow. How the goblins stole the colors from the rainbow and hwoo the flowers rescued the colors and banished the goblins. But what attracted me the most was the incredibly beautiful illustrations! The vividness of the colors of the goblins and the rainbow have stayed with me all these years. I was delighted to see this book re-issued. I purchased one as a gift for my young cousin who collects childrens books with outstanding illustrations. The Rainbow Goblins is a book that can be enjoyed by children of all ages, from the young who will love the story of the rainbow, to us older folks who remember seeing rainbows.

My seven year old nephew and two year old niece don't like very many of the same things. But both were silent and wide-eyed when I sat down to read the Rainbow Goblins to them. The story is an unexceptional fairy tale about goblins who drink color and thus thirst to capture the rainbow. But the book's real payoff comes in the pictures, which are breathtaking. de Rico's majestic, sweeping landscapes; raging storms; and of course, his brilliant rainbow, all dazzle the eyes of infants and uncles alike. If your children are still at the age where they prefer looking at the pictures to hearing the story, you should invest in this book

Today, I called my grown daughter in MI and her first words to me were "The Rainbow Goblins is in print again"! Oh, the memories of reading that book from the public library over and over. I not only bought copies for my children, but for friends' children and my grandson as well. This is a beautifully illustrated book with a wonderful story. I hope you make memories as blissful as mine while reading it to a child you love.

Like other reviewers, I loved this book as a child and wanted to pass this love to my daughter. Like most of us, I'm usually too busy to post a review, but when ordering the book, I came across an awful customer review that read,

"PARENTS BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [. . .]realize what two of the goblins are doing to each other as the story progresses. This Ul De Rico has no business in children's literature. I think you will agree if you check out this book and what the yellow and red goblins are engaged in in some of the illustrations. As a parent and illustrator, all I can say is SHAMEFUL!"

Simply said, I would not want this review to stop any parent from buying this book for his/her child. I have absolutely no idea what the reviewer is writing about. RAINBOW GOBLINS is a classic tale about the dangers of gluttony. There is simply nothing sexually inappropriate about the text or pictures. I would agree with one reviewer that explaining the drowning may be difficult for young children, but otherwise there is nothing but amazingly beautiful images and an important lesson concerning moderation.

Even though my daughter is only one year old, she already delights in the beauty of this book.

When I was in elementary school, I checked this book every chance I got. The striking artwork and simple storyline captured my soul and taught me to revere beauty and protect it. Also I learned to share life with everyone around me and try to give them the strength this book instilled in me. I guess no words will ever fully describe how I feel about this masterpiece. The artwork is astounding. This book molded me into a very giving and loyal person. People do not believe that just one book could do so much and I just want them to know that it DID. When I finished school, I started thinking of this book and intensified my search after looking for it for eight years. It was no longer printed and when I was about to give up hope, it was reprinted and right away I bought 20 copies. I have passed these books on to first time parents, very close friends, and family members stressing to them how important this book is and how it changed my life and helped me deal with much sorrow that I had when I was younger. When I finally had the book back in my hands, I did not want to waste the moment, so I sat in my garden filled with all the colors of the rainbow that this book taught me about. As the water trickled out of the fountains I had installed and butterflies drank the nector in the blossoms, I sat and read the book slowly studying the pictures for hours at a time. I have a great love for animals, especially African wildlife, and in one of the first pictures it shows giraffes and elephants. I collect elephant sculptures. I will always remember that day I revisited my childhood, and what a tearful day it was. They were not tears of sadness but tears of JOY and admiration for Ul De Rico. My dream now is to be able to go up to this man, or really MY HERO, and tell him what an impact his work of art, his neolegendery story made on my life. I also recently was mystified again when I purchased THE WHITE GOBLIN. It too stresses to need to protect our resources and share the beauty around us. I gu! ess I could really go on forever telling how marvelous this book is but I cannot put into words how great my passion developed for life each time I read these books.

There once was a land that lived in fear of the seven Rainbow Goblins. Each had its own color, which was also its name, and they were led by Yellow, who was their chief because he was the craftiest. The goblins were feared because they lived on color and scoured the land looking for rainbows. Whenever they saw one they would catch it in their lassoes and suck the colors out of it so that they could fill their bellies with the bright liquids. However, one day the Rainbow Goblins came to a hidden paradise called the Valley of the Rainbow, the one place in all the land that did not fear the goblins.

The story of "The Rainbow Goblins" and the oil paintings on oak panels that illustrate the story, are the work of Count Ulderico Gropplero di Troppenburg (a.k.a. Ul de Rico). "The Rainbow Goblins" is a story about the arrogance of evil and the power of nature, while the artwork would remind you of Renaissance artwork if it were not for the bright colors put into most of the paintings. "Time" described "The Rainbow Goblins" as a fairy tale that might have been told by the Brothers Grimm and illustrated by Leonardo da Vinci, a comment that will not mean a lot to the younger readers that will fall in love with this exquisite book, but it will give the rest of us something to think about.