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Title: Rumpelstiltskin (Grimm Version) by Alison Sage, Wilhelm K. Grimm, Gennady Spirin, Jacob Grimm, Gennadii Spirin ISBN: 0-8037-0908-0 Publisher: Penguin USA Pub. Date: 01 February, 1991 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.65 (17 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Zelinsky brings depth and beauty to a frightening fairy tale
Comment: When I was a child I remember being frightened by the story of Rumpelstiltskin. A miller's 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 man's 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 miller's daughter marries (was that supposed to be a happy ending?).
Paul Zelinsky hasn't 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 miller's daughter's 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 miller's 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 I'm more than happy to do so.
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!
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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: Little Red Riding Hood by Trina Schart Hyman, Brothers Grimm ISBN: 0823404706 Publisher: Holiday House Pub. Date: 01 June, 1982 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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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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