Rumpelstiltskin

by Xavier Carrasco (Adapted by), Francesc Infante (Illustrator), Jacob Grimm (Based On Work by)

This striking addition to Chronicle's successful bilingual book series introduces children to the universally loved stories Rumpelstiltskin. Retold in both Spanish and English, classic fairy tales provide young readers with a fun way to learn to recognize words in both languages. Easy-to-follow text coupled with gorgeous illustrations make it a wonderful addition to the home or classroom library.

Genres: Spanish Literature, Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published July 5, 2007

Reviews

[Lucy Lopez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rumpelstiltskin

By Xavier Carrasco, Illustrated by Frencesc Infante
This book was written in 1996 and rewrote as an English-Spanish bilingual version in 2007. From presumed German origins, this version of Rumpelstiltskin follows the traditional story plot. However, the details of the story take on a different experience for the reader. The story transformed from its original language, German, to Catalan, the writer's home language. Then, it changed again to be a bilingual Spanish and English book.

The illustrations also bridge from a German Royal setting to a more Spanish Royal setting. The colors, the clothing, and the character's physical characteristics, among others, easily place you in a Spanish royal environment. The illustrations turn the characters into picturesque personalities taking away from the characters’ development. The illustrator, Francesc Infante, has worked on several Spanish comics and children's books. It is easy to read the illustrator’s background and culture.

I believe this book was modified for expanding readers of young age. It allows the reader to read about the text but not much beyond the text since the cultural connections are not easy to distinguish. The adapter, Mr. Xavier, does not acknowledge the origins of the story.

This take on the traditional story of Rumpelstiltskin could be used with emerging readers ages 9 to 16 to analyze how the setting shapes the characters and plots. This book is a valuable resource for readers who want to determine between literal and nonliteral language and understand words and phrases as they are used in a text.

[Destiney Dickson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Literature Requirement: Traditional Book- Fairytale
Number of pages: 32
Age level: 5-6 years
Grade level: Pre-k-3
Genre: Fiction
Copyright: 1996 by Xavier Carrasco
Book Format: Hardcover

This story is written in both English and Spanish. It is about a young girl who can spin gold out of straw. One day the girl's father tells the king about her talent and this piques the king's interest. He brings her to his castle and puts her in a room with a large pile of straw. He orders her to spin it all into gold. The young woman weeps because she knows that she cannot complete the task. However, a little man appears and offers to spin the straw for her in exchange for something valuable. This occurs two more times with bigger piles of straw. The final time the woman will become the king's bride if she is able to turned the straw into gold. Therefore, the little man makes her a bargain; He will spin all of the straw in exchange for her first born son. Later when he returns for his payment he says that she may keep her child if she can guess his name. That leads to a race against the clock for the woman to learn his name in order to keep her baby.
I really enjoyed this book. I love that it is both in English and Spanish. It would be great for bilingual and dual language classrooms. The story is intriguing and the illustrations are well done. The illustrations do a good job of showing movement and emotion. The repetition in the story and the predictable nature of the book would be younger for younger students. I would recommend this book for students in first through third grade.

[Julie Rothlauf · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is written with English on the top, and Spanish text on the bottom, allowing students to read in either language, or they prefer- both. The illustrations are abstract drawings, which are an interesting take on the traditional story. The text also included “silly” names when the Queen was trying to guess Rumpelstiltskin's name, such as “Clubfoot, Pokerspine, Funnymug, Unibrow, Runnynose, and Bulgebottom”. The rest of the book follows the traditional storyline, although in this version, the Queen has a son, whom Rumpelstiltskin wants to take.

[Jody Kyburz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice version of Rumpelstiltskin, however, I did not read the Spanish, only the English. This would be a great book for ELL children. The illustrations are nice with a strong Spanish influence, but look small on the small pages. I would love to see them taking up the whole page in a full size American picture book.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well it was fun reading it.

[Taneka · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt this story ended abruptly. Nonetheless, it served its purpose.

Next book: Snow White/Blancanieves: A Bilingual Book.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rumpelstiltskin is the story of an old miller who tells the King that his daughter has the gift of spinning straw into gold. As the King hears such a marvelous art, he takes the miller’s daughter into his palace and locks her in a room to spin all the straw into gold. The poor miller’s daughter has not idea how the straw could be possibly be spun into gold, she feels so sad and starts crying. Suddenly, a small man comes to the rescue but he asks something in return. The first time she gives him her necklace, then her ring but the third time she doesn’t have anything else. The King has promised to marry her if she turns the third room into gold; the little man accepts to help her for the last time if she gives him her first child when she becomes Queen. The miller’s daughter marries the King and after a year she has a beautiful baby. The Queen has forgotten about the little man, until he reappears to take the Queen’s child. The Queen starts begging and crying that the little man takes pity on her. He gives her three days to guess his name, if the Queen does not guess the little man will take the child. After three days of saying all the names she knew, the Queen’s despair grows bigger and send one of her helpers to search for more name. When the helper was walking through the woods, the helper hears the little man sing and saying his name…Rumpelstiltskin! At the end the Queen tells the little man his name he disappears and the Queen keeps her baby.
This particular version by Xavier C was from Tumblebooks.com. This webpage reads the story to children and highlights the text; therefore children could read along and listen at the same time. The narrator reads at a slow pace enabling children to follow the story. The pictures have some motion but they were not very realistic, the images looked liked cartoons, with few colors and very simplistic. All versions I have read are very similar throughout the plot and few discrepancies could be found between them. In this video version, the Queen’s messenger is a man and the Queen has a boy. All the names that the Queen tells the little man are different from other stories. Rumpelstiltskin song says: " Today I sing, dance and bake, for tomorrow the prince I will take, not even the Queen can win the game, for Rumpelstiltskin is my name!” Although, this version is nicer in a way that they excluded the word “devil” when Rumpelstiltskin complains to the Queen and the end was also less gruesome than other versions. In the online version, Rumpelstiltskin stamps so hard on the floor that he falls in the ground and disappear.

[A_Olga · Rating 2 out of 5]

This copy of Rumplestiltskin was written in both Spanish and English. However, it did not catch my attention. The illustrations are pointy and geometric and carry a modern feel to them. This tale is over two hundred years old so giving it a modern twist can distract readers from its classic original illustrations. I did like that it could be read to Spanish speaking students in their native language. It would be fun for students to compare the differnt author's stlyes and illustrations. I still remember as a child repeating the words from the story,"Rumpelstiltskin singing around the fire singing, Rumpelstiltskin is my name and playing tricks is my game!" Whatever copy you do pick up or like the most, I hope you enjoy the Brother's Grimm timeless treasure of Rumpelstiltskin.

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

The illustrations are strangely charming, but this adaptation of Rumpelstiltskin is so whitewashed that it omits certain important details. Because the king never threatens to kill the miller's daughter if she cannot spin the straw into gold by morning, there is no reason for her to promise Rumpelstiltskin her first born son when she runs out of items with which to bribe him on the third evening. Also, even though she insists on the third night that she has nothing left to give him, the illustration show her wearing pearl earrings, and an observant child will question why she didn't give him her earrings instead of promising to give him her baby.

[slieberman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This version of Rumpelstiltskin is very simple, yet delightful. Adapted and illustrated by Spanish authors, they tell the classic version of this story. It's a nice retelling with beautiful Spanish style illustrations. On each page, the story is written in both English and Spanish, making it perfect for a bilingual classroom.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first time that i ever read a book like this and i absolutely loved it! i think this is a really good book to read to children of any age and play a guessing game with them. the illustrations were different but i think that they went along well with the characters and the setting.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book for discussing "good" and "evil" in fairy tale characters. The simple text and, frankly, lack of great pictures, makes it a great book for beginning storytellers. Students focus more on the telling of the story rather than on trying to see the pictures.

[Ame · Rating 3 out of 5]

A version of the classic story, but with cool cubist style art.

[Sydney Conrad · Rating 3 out of 5]

A shrt and sweet version of the classic Rumpelstiltskin story.