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Title: Rumpelstiltskin by Paul O. Zelinsky ISBN: 0-525-44265-0 Publisher: Dutton Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 1986 Format: School & Library Binding Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.65 (17 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The most technically correct spinning wheel in kiddie lit
Comment: 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.
Rating: 5
Summary: Beautiful, Complicated Tale with Magnificent Illustrations
Comment: 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!
Rating: 2
Summary: Nice pictures, twisted story
Comment: This is a nearly verbatim rendition of the Grimms' story, and it's hard to understand why Zelinsky would use his talent to illustrate it for children. Even harder to figure out is how the American Library Association could award its Caldecott Medal for distinguished American picture book for children to any rendition of this dreadful tale: The king threatens to kill the miller's daughter if she can't spin gold from straw. Rumpelstiltskin saves her life by spinning gold for her, but extracts a necklace, a ring and, on the third night of spinning, a promise of her firstborn. She then marries the king, whom Zelinsky depicts as young and handsome. When it comes time for the queen to hand over her newborn, Rumpel agrees to relent if the queen can discover his name. She sends a servant to follow him into the woods and discover the name. So the king, though he looks good, is greedy and brutal. The queen is a victim who agrees to give over a future infant to save her own life, and then depends on an anonymous, unrecognized "servant girl" to save the child. And Rumpelstiltskin, shown as physically unattractive and (the message seems to be) therefore bad, is the one who saved the future queen from execution and then relents on the payment he bargained for. A weird, twisted story that offers nothing for kids, illustrated with Renaissance-style pictures that accentuate the perversity by making the bad guy look good and the guy who saved the damsel in distress look bad.
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Title: Rapunzel (CALDECOTT MEDAL BOOK) by Paul O. Zelinsky ISBN: 0525456074 Publisher: Dutton Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 1997 List Price(USD): $17.99 |
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Title: Hansel and Gretel by Rika Lesser, Paul O. Zelinsky ISBN: 0525461523 Publisher: Dutton Books Pub. Date: 01 February, 1999 List Price(USD): $17.99 |
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Title: The Twelve Dancing Princesses by Marianna Mayer ISBN: 0688080510 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: 24 March, 1989 List Price(USD): $17.99 |
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Title: Cinderella by K. Y. Craft ISBN: 1587170043 Publisher: SeaStar Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Sleeping Beauty by Mahlon F. Craft, Kinuko Craft ISBN: 1587171201 Publisher: SeaStar Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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