Rumpelstiltskin

Genre: Traditional Literature

Zelinksky, Paul O. Rumpelstiltskin. New York: Dutton Children's Books, 1986.

ISBN 0-525-44265-0

Zelinsky’s Rumpelstiltskin is a retelling of the Grimm fairy tale.  He based the story off of the second edition of Grimm’s 1819 publication of Children’s and Household Tales.  Rumpelstiltskin is the tale of a young miller’s daughter who is taken to the castle to spin gold for the king.  She receives help from a little man who asks for her firstborn child in return for his services.  She gives all she has to receive his help.  She has to resort to spying in order to figure a way out and save her child.  

The characters range from the scared girl to the greedy king.  The miller’s daughter shows fear and sadness through the predicament she is put in.  The girl was asked to spin the straw into gold because her father was bragging to the king.  She is grateful for the help from Rumpelstiltskin when he offers it.  Rumpelstiltskin is just using her to get what he wants.  Most of the tale takes place in the castle in rooms filled with straw.   As with most fairy tale stories, it does have a happy ending.  

Zelinsky maintains the tale’s integrity of earlier versions.  In his notes at the end of the story, he discusses the different editions of the Grimm Brothers original tale.  He does claim to add lines when he felt it was deemed necessary.  His illustrations add a visual context to the story.  He shows the girl’s sadness at not knowing how to spin the straw into gold.  You can see her surprise as Rumpelstiltskin helps her out.  You can also visualize other emotions through the pictures, such as the smugness of Rumpelstiltskin winning at his game.  Then you see his anger as the now queen figures out his name and ruins his game. 

Awards for Paul O. Zelinsky’s Rumpelstiltskin include:

1987 Caldecott Honor Book, Redbook Award, 

Society of Illustrators and AIGA Certificates of Merit, 

Bratislava Biennale Selection,  

ALA noteable book, 

SLJ best book, 

Parent’s Choice Award, 

Book-of-the-Month Club selection, 

White Raven Book selection of the International Youth Library.

This list can be found on Zelinsky’s website http://www.paulozelinsky.com/.  

This story would be great for a Reader’s Theater production.  It is a simple story with only a few characters. Costumes could be as simple as using different hats for each character.  Many other connections can be made when comparing to other variations of the story.  Discussions on emotions and reactions can be done as well as a discussion on helping others verses playing tricks.  This could lead into a discussion on right and wrong.  Was the miller's daughter doing the right thing?  Was Rumpelstiltskin?

A list of other variations can be found at http://www2.ferrum.edu/applit/bibs/tales/rump.htm.