Hopefully you do know the Grimm Brothers fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin but if you don't you could read this
version.
The best picture books are a partnership between author and illustrator.
Carson Ellis has so carefully crafted amazing illustrations for this book and Mac Barnett adds a delicious layer of humour.
"Her father, a poor miller, was a nice enough guy but he had a big mouth."
"My daughter ... She's really great' (It's true. She was.) ... And ... 'she can spin straw into gold.' (Of course, she couldn't.)
"And soon the queen had a child, a boy she named Tom. (A pretty nice thing to do all things considered.)
The list of names are sure to have your students or young reading companion in fits of laughter - Baxter, Thaxter, Cuthbert ... and Mac! to name just a few.
Vocabulary: bragged, retinue, sauntered, and chalice.
Publisher blurb: Once upon a time there was a clever girl with a not-so-clever father. When her father claims she can spin straw into gold, the king forces the girl to perform this impossible task. She has no other choice than to accept a strange deal from a mysterious little man. But when he arrives and attempts to collect the debt, the fiendish trickster Rumpelstiltskin discovers that he is the one who has been tricked!
This is the second in the groundbreaking new collection of masterfully retold fairy tales crafted by one of today's most celebrated and esteemed authors, Mac Barnett, paired with the stunning illustrations of the acclaimed and award-winning creator, Carson Ellis. With Barnett's signature pacing and wit, his subversive storytelling style and narrative voice, and Ellis's stunning folk-art style, this retelling of Rumpelstiltskin will introduce this classic story to a new generation of readers!
Think about the language used on this page: The little man swept into the room. 'And if I do it once more,' said the man, 'what will you give me?' The girl shook her head. 'I have nothing left. I gave you my necklace. My ring. I am bereft.' And she paused to consider her fate. But the little man smiled. 'I'll make you a deal. If you become queen, give your first child to me.' Well, who knew if that would ever happen. So the girl said, 'Deal.' And the man spun the straw into gold."
After you read and re-read Rumpelstiltskin you should take a look at this interview with Mac Barnett and Carson Ellis and have the book beside you so you can see the images and decisions they are discussing. And then take this deep dive into the illustrations. In this video Mac and Carson talk about their book. Sadly our Australian copy of this book has no dust jacket but if you live in the US be sure to look for the case reveal.
A great new Rumpelstiltskin version for every library. Waking Brain Cells
Carson Ellis’s painterly gouache illustrations, inspired by 18th century fairy tale art and portraiture of the Renaissance era are a great complement to the telling, while the black and white illustrations resemble wood-block prints. Red Reading Hub
It would be good to share this book with a high school group. For example you could talk about the way this image is reminiscent of well-known paintings of the Madonna and child. Take a look here.
I highly recommend you share this picture book by Mac Barnett and Carson Ellis with the students in your library (ages 9+). Hopefully you will have time to read the book, then go back and look at each page and talk about the decisions made by Carson Ellis and also it would be fantastic to then read a couple of other illustrated versions of this fairy tale (see below). Here is a very useful set of teaching ideas from the publisher Scholastic. See lots more Mac Barnett books here. I especially recommend one of his older titles - Billy Twitters and his Blue whale problem. Here is my Meet Mac Barnett post.
I was slightly shocked when Colby Sharp talked about reading Rumpelstiltskin to his Grade Five class only to discover many/most of the group were not familiar with this fairy tale - I do hope he has now shared other versions with his class and perhaps gone even further and delved into other 'important' fairy tales that readers need to know. There are so many references to fairy tales in literature, in advertising and in cartoons. We do kids a disservice if we don't build up their field knowledge of this important cannon. By coincidence I have just read Once Upon Tomorrow which is a book for readers aged 16+ and which interweaves the story of the miller's daughter and the character of Rumpelstiltskin. This brand-new dystopian verse novel is by Australian author Karen Comer.
See inside this version
here
Look for this fairy tale version of The Three Billy Goats Gruff also by Mac Barnett with his friend Jon Klassen:
Here are two books illustrated by Carson Ellis:
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