The Goldminer's Daughter: A Melodramatic Fairy Tale (Hardcover)

~ Jackie Mims Hopkins (Author), Jon Goodell (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-The cover and endpapers set the stage for a theater production, and rebuslike icons appear throughout to indicate places for audience participation. The story starts off with a scenario reminiscent of the old camp routine: I can't pay the rent! You must pay the rent! As the heroine searches for gold to pay the mustache-twirling villain, she comes across Goldilocks, the Three Little Pigs, the former owner of the Golden Goose, Sleeping Beauty's spinning wheel, Rapunzel, and Rumplestiltskin's sister. When she is still unable to pay him, Mr. Bigglebottom claims her hand in marriage, but Gracie Pearl digs her heels in-¦literally. This results in an oil gusher that carries the villain far away and enables the heroine and her father to live happily ever after. Goodell's delightful and action-packed illustrations feature expressive characters and plenty of visual humor. Large collections and those in which fractured fairy tales are popular will want to consider this performance.-Elaine Lesh Morgan, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

K-Gr. 2. Plan to suspend rules about "library voices" for this read-aloud, which adapts the conventions of theatrical melodrama--complete with visual signals throughout the text meant to elicit boos, hisses, and other interjections from listeners. Those familiar with melodrama will find a few differences here. There's no male hero in the Dudley Do-Right mold (this damsel rescues herself from marriage to a dastardly businessman), and, in a twist that young ones will enjoy despite its incongruous feel, fragments of familiar fairy tales work their way into the plot. Figurative, vernacular language ("This mine's as worthless as weevils in cornmeal") demands to be read in a stagy twang, and Goodell's oil-on-gesso paintings capture the genre's spirit through exaggerated characters, a dusty boomtown setting, and a modernist frame that casts children as audience members in a theater where the others are all desert critters. More prominent "boo-hiss" icons would have been helpful for larger groups, but creative adults will find ways to encourage exuberant participation even from across the room. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Peachtree Publishers (March 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561453625
• ISBN-13: 978-1561453627
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #748,725 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!! Destined to be a Classic!, September 17, 2006

By	Amy Graham (Scottsdale, AZ) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is destined to become a classic! The Gold Miner's Daughter, as you might note from the cover art, is set up as an old-time picture show or theater production that is cross between an old time blustery tall tale and the Dudley-Do-Right/Dastardly Bank Manager saga (sans Dudley of course, this tough little lady doesn't need any many to rescue her from the dastardly banker - yea that's right I said it...he's DASTARDLY)!! This plucky hybrid goes even further with the amusement and nostalgia in giving a nod to several of the "biggies" in fairy tale stardom (Goldie Locks and the Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs, Rumplestiltskin, Rapunzel, Jack and the Bean Stalk, and Sleeping Beauty).

We start out with the typical slick banker going to foreclose on Gracie and Pa's mine...but he'll give them till sundown or else he's taking the mine AND Gracie as his bride...and she wants absolutely nothing to do with that, so she sets out on a march through town to try to find someone who can help her find the gold they need before sunset. This story builds to a nice climax and while Gracie doesn't wind up tied up on the train tracks, you might be surprised who does! Will Gracie find the gold in time? Will she be forced to marry the dastardly banker? You'll have to read to find out...and I don' think you'll be disappointed!

This is quite fun for parents and children...it's got the charm of a tall tale (complete with amazing exaggeration)...this is especially apparent in the illustrations, they are magnificent; the drama of the Dudley-Do-Right saga; the charm of a fairy tale; and best of all...audience participation. Yep, that's right, this book comes with a sequence of 4 symbols that are cues for the listeners (for this could only work as a read-aloud with an audience) to chime in (my favorite is the banker's oily handlebar mustache - boo, hiss).

Simply put...this book is a storyteller's dream...your kids will love this!! A+

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great story, May 21, 2008

By	M. Miron "moe" (Flint, Mi USA) - See all my reviews

This book is AWESOME! I work at an elementary school, and all kids loved to interact with the story. fantastic read aloud.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A favorite in our house, February 4, 2007

By	P. Carey (Glendale, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Our four year old daughter asks for this book again and again. The story is fun, and the interaction is great.