Customer Reviews

Rumpelstiltskin

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As previous reviews have noted, the illustrations are exquisite and quite out of the ordinary; instantly captivating and magical at first glance. My daughter is 3 and 1/2 and is riveted by the book. I feel confused at how strongly some of the readers feel about the book's "message." Yes, many of the characters are "bad" and it is morally ambiguous, but the sheer flight of fancy and imagination captured by the tale has intrigued and fascinated readers and listeners since the early 1800's. It's like a child's version of a scary movie without the macabre details, and even though Rumpelstiltskin himself is ugly and frightening even though he is actually "saving" the queen, the book and story's power coem from the fact that he is such an unusual character; not whether he is good or bad. Furthermore, the additional magical ideas of straw into gold, being locked up in a castle, servants running off in the middle of the night, and a little elfen man riding around on a spoon are bizarre and fanciful and elements like these fill much of the fairy tale genre for centuries. I say, get over the p.c. messages and concetrate on the fantasy and magic of the story that is so compelling to readers, especially with Zelinsky's magnificent pictures. Life is complicated, and so is the story - it doesn't try to answer all the questions and make everybody good/bad/punished/redeemed. That is not the point of this particular story. If you only want a story with a moral, it's true that this is not the book for you. If creative ideas and concepts that you could never think of yourself are what your looking for in a book, then it is the book for you!

When I was a child I remember being frightened by the story of Rumpelstiltskin. A millers daughter is ordered to spin straw into gold or the king will have her executed. An odd little man appears and offers to help her in exchange for her first born child. Finally, she makes a deal: she will be able to keep her child if she can guess the little mans name. Through stealth, she does so, and the angry little man flies away on a cooking spoon. All fairy tales have an odd element to them, but this one was so bizarre it was scary. And every character in it is despicable, including the greedy king, who the millers daughter marries (was that supposed to be a happy ending?).

Paul Zelinsky hasnt altered a single detail of the odd story, but his illustrations, based on Italian Renaissance oil paintings, make the tale clearer and far less frightening. His control of gesture and facial expression is marvelous, and as you watch the millers daughters face change from innocence to wariness to fear for her child, to intelligent calculation, and finally to triumph, it is obvious that this is a story of a young woman making her way from complete innocence, where she is at the mercy of others, to an intelligent (if crafty) control of her own life. The best picture in the book is the final one: the millers daughter, now queen, looks down on her baby with love, while the greedy king stands looking on, a little dumbfounded, a little awed. There may be hope for this relationship after all.

This is a book my daughter asks me to read over and over, and Im more than happy to do so.

I read the book Rumpelstiltskin. It is about a poor miller's daughter who is very kind. One day the miller sees the king and says, "My daughter can spin straw into gold" The king said" get her over her right away" So when she got there the king said" if you don't spin this straw into gold by tomorrow you will die" So the miller's daughter cried and cried until a strange person comes in and says" I will spin this straw into gold for you. But you need to give me something". So she does and the next day she goes to another room and he comes again. She gives him something again. Then the next day she goes to a bigger room and he comes back and says, "you will give me your first born baby So the next day she gets married to the king. She has a baby so the man comes back and she says" if I don't find out your name in three days you can take my baby. So she sends out a servant to find out the mans name. So the servant finds out his name it is Rumpelstiltskin. Then he comes and she says" is your name Rumpelstiltskin. Then he was never heard from again.

I liked the book because it had bright detailed illustrations. I liked the picture of the king and the miller. The message is don't trust strangers because she talks to him. The theme is karma because he tricks her and then she tricks him. There is good vs. evil because Rumpelstiltskin is bad and she is good. I know this because he tricks people. The conflict of person vs. person is interesting because she is ahead and then he is. It keeps going back and froth. I think kids should read this because it will teach them to not trust strangers. There are no more versions of this story that I have read.

I am Mary Sanders, 14 years old of Cambridge, Massachusetts. When I was in first grade, I remember my teacher reading to us aloud from this book. Even though, as a six-year-old little girl, I understood this tale perfectly, and I was fascinated by it, and have read this book, many times since, the first time the tale of Rumpelstiltskin was written. Well, it's about a poor, and of course, beautiful miller's daughter, who is held in the castle of the king who demands her to spin a certain amount of straw into gold. The girl has no knowledge whatsoever on how to do this, and the King told her if she failed to do as she was told she would die. Weeping terribly a little man comes to her telling her he will spin the straw into gold in exchange for something. She gives him her ring.The little man spins the straw into gold. Then, the king makes her spin it a second time, in exchange, the girl gives the man her necklace. However it happens a third time, and the girl runs out of items. The little man makes her promise she will give him her first child. She agrees, thinking that will never happen, and becomes the king's wife. She brings a boy in the world, and the little man shows up demanding the child. She weeps and out of pity the little man tells her he will give her three days to guess his name, and if she does, she can keep to kid. Well, two days go by and no luck with names. Then a servant of hers discovers the man's name is RUMPELTSTILKSKIN. She tells the little man and she is correct, and in rage he flees. But in this version, the little man flies off on a giant cooking spoon. In the real version he rips himself apart. This is a wonderful tale for children. Read it. It's great.

A rare book. Zelinsky tells the story of "Rumpelstiltskin", evoking a story most American children will know. Especially impressive is his tiny details. A good example of this is his spinning wheel. Many illustrated Rumpelstiltskin stories show the spinning wheel as something that Rumpelstiltskin throws straw towards, causing golden coins appear. In this edition the spinning wheel is technically correct. The miller's daughter is given empty bobbins, onto which Rumpelstiltskin spins golden threads. Zelinsky's accomplished paintings show the golden bobbins gleaming, one on top of another. The portrayal of Rumpelstiltskin himself was described in one review I read as "Rackhamesque". I don't know if this was the illustrator's intent, but he certain does seem culled from a classic European fairy tale book from the early twentieth (or even nineteenth) century. The oil paintings look Southern European, and though a story with an odd moral (if you can outwit your opponent by cheating, you're in the clear) it is an excellent book for children. Like its companion book, "Rapunzel", this too would be a promising book for storytelling.

I wanted a classic children's fairy tale story with handsome illustrations. I got just what I wanted with this book. I have a 3 1/2 year old and it is the perfect length for bedtime.

This is a retelling of the famous children's "fairy" tale, first presented by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in the early 19th century. A young mother has to guess a gnome's name (he had been spinning straw into gold for her) in order to prevent him from taking her new-born babe. This book was a 1987 Caldecott Honor book (i.e., a runner-up to the Medal winner) for best illustrations in a book for children. Paul Zelinsky did considerable research to follow the original version of the tale and his art reflects the time period of the story. It is a beautiful book.

The illustrations helped support and great tale. My daughter loves it. I know that there are many different versions but I was slightly disappointed that the ending was different from the version I remembered as a child. In this version Rumpelstiltskin flies off on a spoon. The version from my childhood is where Rumpelstiltskin is so mad that he jumps so hard he goes through the floor. Even w/the slightly updated version it's still a classic and must have for nay household.

The Grimm Brothers wrote one of their most famous tales,"Rumpelstiltskin", over a century ago and others havetranslated and retold it many times since. Paul O. Zelinsky retold"Rumpelstiltskin" based on one of the Grimms' earliest versions of the story. He was also the illustrator. The illustrations in Zelinsky's version are oil paintings. This allows him to create an exceptional antique setting for the story, as well as striking characters. There is such detail in each illustration that there is almost an individual story with in each picture. The intense use of shadowing combined with a kaleidoscopic amount of colors also makes this story's pictures peculiarly realistic. Zelinsky clearly portrays a distinct and more exciting way of seeing the classic tale, "Rumpelstiltskin". The first thing that makes these illustrations so life-like was the individual characters combined with the ornate and detailed backgrounds. The expressions on the characters' faces are drawn in such detail that the reader can easily see what they are feeling at a glance. The reader can also predict whether a character is good or bad from the detail of his/her face. The queen's (miller's daughter) large, gentle eyes and delicate, ivory skin demand the reader's compassion, even though she broke her promise to Rumpelstiltskin that saved her life. Rumpelstiltskin's tiny body accented by his pointy nose and chin gives off a sinister aura. The little details with in each picture make them all unique. An example is when the king is walking into the room where the miller's daughter is with all the spools of gold. There are rays of sunlight coming throughout the window reflecting off the spools that it hits. The colors used makes the room look warmer and more comfortable than when she had entered into it the night before. You can see some of the gold thread unraveling off various spools. The wrinkles in the miller's daughter's clothes shows that she is not in a very comfortable position as she sleeps one of the piles of gold. These are all such minor details that you might not even notice in a photograph. The title page and end papers even include detailed artistry. They show a petite village that is surrounded by a range of mountains and an ocean. The narrow, dirt road winding down to the tiny community gives out the idea that the village is relatively secluded from the rest of the world. I think that the title page and the end papers are a great way to covey the setting and atmosphere to the reader right away. The component of Zelinsky's illustrations in, "Rumpelstiltskin", that made them seem so life-like was his use of shadowing. A good example of this is when the queen sent her servant into the woods to look for Rumpelstiltskin. In this picture the only light the reader can see is from the servant's lantern and the few feet it shines on around her. The reader can also see the moon's reflection in the ocean. This use of shadowing makes these illustrations look not only life-like, but like photographs too. In Zelinsky's version of "Rumpelstiltskin", the illustrations were very realistic, because of his use of shadowing, complex use of colors, and phenomenal detail. Zelinsky's pictures are so effective that the words are practically unnecessary to tell the classic tale of "Rumpelstiltskin".

The pictures in this book are very nice. My 5-year old loves to hear it as a story before going to sleep. The ending of the story is also suitable for this age, since Rumpelstiltskin ends up flying out the window, instead of something more tragic happening to him.