Status
Available
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Publication
Blue Sky Press (2000), Edition: First Edition, Hardcover, 40 pages
Description
In this African American retelling of "Rumpelstiltskin," Lit'mahn spins thread into gold cloth for the king's new bride.
User reviews
LibraryThing member amspicer
This is a story of a beautiful young lady named Quashiba. Quashiba spends the majority of her time spinning the plainest of thread. One day when she is spinning the thread the king comes riding up to her. Quashiba's mother then takes this opportunity to tell a lie that Quashiba "is spinning a whole
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field of finest golden thread to make cloth for his Highest." Quashiba finds herself stuck as the kind decides to marry her and expects her to makes three whole rooms full of golden things. What will she do?! This story is a fun spinoff of the original Rumpelstiltskin which was one of my favorites growing up!! I think all ages can enjoy this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member jgbyers
This is a story of a beautiful young lady named Quashiba. Quashiba spends the her time spinning the thread. One day while she was spinning thread she got a visit from the king. Quashiba's mother then takes this opportunity to tell a lie that Quashiba "is spinning a whole field of finest golden
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thread to make cloth for his Highest." Quashiba is in trouble when the King believes this lie and decides to marry her so she will spin the finest thread. This story is a fun spinoff of the original Rumpelstiltskin. Show Less
LibraryThing member eevers
This is an alternate to the classic Rumplestilkin story, but set in Africa. The illustrations are beautiful! The gold catches your eye on every page!
LibraryThing member elizabethholloway
This story is the West Indian version of Rumpelstiltskin. Here, the mother makes the bold lie that her daughter can spin straw into gold, the king marries here right away, but a year later locks her in a room to spin gold. Lit'mahn appears, agrees to help her, and plans to marry her himself if he
the West Indian dialect has a melodic cadence that children may enjoy. it's not as straightforward as some other retellings but it is appealing to the ear. The illustrations, though, while beautiful, may not appeal to children. The characters seem distant and their emotions are hard to read. The illustrations of Lit'mahn though are dramatic and creepy. This book would be appropriate for ages 6 to 8.
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can't guess his name.the West Indian dialect has a melodic cadence that children may enjoy. it's not as straightforward as some other retellings but it is appealing to the ear. The illustrations, though, while beautiful, may not appeal to children. The characters seem distant and their emotions are hard to read. The illustrations of Lit'mahn though are dramatic and creepy. This book would be appropriate for ages 6 to 8.
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LibraryThing member McKennaMiller
The illustrations are what make this book amazing. I prefer the german version of Rumplestiltskin because I think the characters are more developed. For instance, the way that the main woman character finds out the little man's name in the original tale is much more creative than in the this one. I
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also found the writing style very bland. However, I do appreciate how the author changed the dialogue into traditional west indies lingo. Show Less
LibraryThing member kzrobin
This would be a great book to read to a K-3 grade class. Although first you might want to read to them Rumpelstilskin, and allow them to compare the two.
LibraryThing member chernezk
In this West Indian tale Big King takes the lovely Quashiba as his wife after her mother tells a little white lie, that Quashiba has the ability to spin gold. After a year of marital bliss Big King locks his bride in a room demanding that she spin gold in order to win her freedom. Luckily help
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arrives in the form of a little demon named Lit'mahn Bittyun. Of course there's a catch - if Quashiba cannot guess his name in three days he will shrink her down to his size and spirit her away to live in his shade. This story is a variation on the Rumplestiltskin theme. The illustrations are also very beautiful and colourful with gold edging and accents on each page. Show Less
LibraryThing member suzan2
A girl is forced to marry a king because she supposedly knew how to turn anything into gold. Until she proves herself for who she is.
LibraryThing member AbigailAdams26
When Big King comes riding by one day, Quashiba's mother tells a little fib - that her daughter can spin golden thread - in answer to his queries, and the beautiful young girl soon finds herself Queen! But when Big King demands that she make good on her mother's claim, one year into their marriage,
Fairy-tale lovers will immediately recognize this wonderful story, a West Indies variant of the tale-type often known as Rumpelstiltskin. It's natural (and enjoyable) to compare and contrast folkloric variants, and I was particularly struck, during the course of my reading, by the fact that The Girl Who Spun Gold highlights the injustice of the king's demands, in a way that the German variant does not. I also found myself wondering, in light of the fact that it is Quashiba herself that Lit'mahn wants, rather than any unborn child (as in other variants), whether the terrible trauma of slavery had a role in shaping the story. Could the knowledge that, for many generations, one's children could be taken away, have made that aspect of the tale too painful to include? Or was this variant always different, in this regard? The folklorist in me can't help but wonder...
With an engaging story, and breathtakingly beautiful artwork - gorgeous gold-toned illustrations perfectly capture both the beauty of Quashiba and the gruesome creepiness of Lit'mahn - this is a picture-book I would recommend to all fairy and folktale lovers, as well as fans of Leo and Diane Dillon's artwork!
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Quashiba must accept the help of that malicious little magic-maker, Lit'mahn, who wants to shrink her down to his size, and force her to live in his shade. Can she guess his name in time, and free herself from her obligation to him...?Fairy-tale lovers will immediately recognize this wonderful story, a West Indies variant of the tale-type often known as Rumpelstiltskin. It's natural (and enjoyable) to compare and contrast folkloric variants, and I was particularly struck, during the course of my reading, by the fact that The Girl Who Spun Gold highlights the injustice of the king's demands, in a way that the German variant does not. I also found myself wondering, in light of the fact that it is Quashiba herself that Lit'mahn wants, rather than any unborn child (as in other variants), whether the terrible trauma of slavery had a role in shaping the story. Could the knowledge that, for many generations, one's children could be taken away, have made that aspect of the tale too painful to include? Or was this variant always different, in this regard? The folklorist in me can't help but wonder...
With an engaging story, and breathtakingly beautiful artwork - gorgeous gold-toned illustrations perfectly capture both the beauty of Quashiba and the gruesome creepiness of Lit'mahn - this is a picture-book I would recommend to all fairy and folktale lovers, as well as fans of Leo and Diane Dillon's artwork!
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LibraryThing member EliseMT
In this book, the story traditionally known as "Rumpelstiltskin" is told in an African setting. As per usual, Leo and Diane Dillon provide stunning illustrations.
LibraryThing member amandahnorman
From the lilting language to the strong female main characters to the masterful gold illustrations, this picture book fairy tale is a masterpiece. The dialect might need some practice to get right when reading aloud, but this variant of the little man tale is one to definitely share with students.
LibraryThing member kquisling
The Girl Who Spun Gold is a West Indian spin on the classic German tale of Rumplestiltskin. A young woman is married to the king under his false understanding that she can spin thread in to gold. At first, Quashiba is able to enjoy the luxuries of royalty. Soon, however, her husband locks her in a
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room overnight and expects her to fill the room with gold thread by morning. In her desperate hour, the clever, mystical Lit’mahn comes to her rescue. His conditions, however, could be the cause of her ruin. Folktales transcend time and place the reader in another culture. This folktale in particular brings out the cross-cultural issue of women being mistreated, sold in to marriage, or otherwise stripped of their power. Show Less
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Physical description
40 p.; 12.13 x 0.35 inches
ISBN
0590473786 / 9780590473781