Vivian Vande VeldeThe Rumpelstiltskin Problem

I love this book, was replacing an older copy a former student got wet. Great variation on the story we know as Rumpelstiltskin. My favorite is Straw Into Gold, which I read aloud to my seventh and eighth grade students every year. Now retired, and looking forward to reading it to my grandchildren.

For those who wonder about the background behind all those fairy tales.... Why would the miller tell the king his daughter could spin straw into gold? And why on earth would the king threaten to kill the girl on two nights, then want to marry her on the third? This book gives you a number of options to answer these, and many more questions. And it will have you laughing at each version of Rumpelstiltskin that the author proposes. Excellent reading!!

The author's note, at the beginning of the book, is worth the purchase of the book. I guess I have always taken fairy tales at face value but not Vivian Vande Velde. Her questions and comments found in the author's note are hilarious. Then she presents six different versions of Rumplestiltskin, all told from a new perspective. In one tale I voted for the girl, in another, the little man, and yet another, the King. This would be a fun book to use to teach perspective, as well as to have students compare and contrast the tales. What fun! My only complaint is that I wanted more.

A collection of short stories. I'm an adult who enjoys YA, and these stories are good if I want something light. I'd also have no hesitation recommending this book to a younger reader.

This was refreshing and a fun read. I especially loved story #2 (or was it 3?) the romantic one... and the last one. What a great idea. Bravo Vivian Vande Velde. (What a great name too.)

I LOVE this book!! I first discovered it through a book fair while I was teaching 3rd grade advanced reading. I read it aloud to my students. We had some GREAT discussions about all the alternate tellings of this well-known tale. I am now reading it to my own children and my husband even picked it up and read it so he could join in our conversations. Buy this book now!!

Excellent anthology.

The book was a fun, whimsical re-imagining of fairy-tale themes.

Funny, insightful and good!Wish it wasn't so short, would recommend to fans of subversion of tropes, and those get annoyed about misogyny in fairytales!