Other editions of book Rumpelstiltskin

Under the disguise of a kind and well-meaning person, Rumpelstiltskin, a cunning dwarf, helps the miller's daughter to spin straw into gold, thus saving her from the king's punishment and offering her the chance to become queen. But he soon reveals his wicked nature, when he tries to take away the queen's child, by means of a strange game. Luckily, he is beaten at his own game and is forced to leave humiliated and ashamed. 'This is a softer and more sympathetic retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, in which the greedy king is humanized by his love for the miller's daughter and by his repentance for his greed and Rumpelstiltskin appears less scary and more funny than in other versions'. - Sarah Adams.

Richly hued oil paintings complement a story simply and gracefully told. "Children...love the story for its mystery, and its familiarity. Adults will find that, like most classic fairy tales, this one rewards periodic rethinking." --New York Times Book Review "Zelinsky's smooth retelling and glowing pictures cast the story in a new and beautiful light." -- School Library Journal

In Rumpelstiltskin, a miller's careless boast that his clever daughter can spin gold from straw is forced by the king to deliver on this claim. A little man arrives to help the miller's distraught daughter in exchange for her firstborn child. Later, when the daughter, now the queen, gives birth to her first child, the little man comes to collect. He agrees to release the queen from her promise if she can learn his name. According to researchers at Durham University and the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, this story originated around 4,000 years ago.