The Rumpelstiltskin Problem by Vivian Vande Velde

Teen readers will appreciate the wit and freshness of these smart-mouth renditions of a traditional story. ('Tastes just like chicken,' scoffs his brother-in-law.) What was with that bizarre fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin Why would a miller claim that his daughter can spin straw into gold Why would the king. The book is coy, innovative and alluring. With divine humor, she reveals the absurdity of the fairy tale. In one story, the miller's daughter is an obnoxious groupie pursuing the polite and gentle king in another, Rumpelstiltskin is female and in a third, the dwarf appears as a troll with a yen to eat human baby who sets up the whole scenario as an attempt to get his hands on a toothsome infant. Vivian Vande Velde is whimsically clever in her six recreations of the Rumpelstiltskin story. Rumpelstiltskin Problem (108 results) You searched for: Title. Sticking closely to the spirit and setting of the original, she changes only one or two building blocks in the plot structure and comes up with some surprising results. The Rumpelstiltskin Problem by Vivian Vande Velde and a great selection of related books. A bevy of miller’s daughters confront their perilous situation in very different ways sometimes comic. The skeptical author sets out to remedy these flaws in six different imaginative retellings full of sassy humor that teens will relish. Vivian Vande Velde has wondered too, and she’s come up with these six alternative versions of the old legend.

For instance, why was the dwarf was willing to accept the girl's ring as a bribe when he already knew how to spin unlimited quantities of gold? And why did he want a baby at all? Not to mention the very peculiar ending in which he stamps on the floor, catches his foot in a crack, and in a fit of rage tears himself in two. Why did the miller tell the king his daughter could spin straw into gold in the first place? The story of Rumpelstiltskin is full of holes, says young adult fantasy writer Vivian Vande Velde in the author's note to this delightful group of tales.