"Once upon a time,
a girl grew up in the woods,
climbing trees and whittling sticks and
catching tadpoles with her bare hands.
Her father, a poor miller, was a nice enough guy,
but he had a big mouth. He told wild stories
and bragged all the time."
That girl ends up being the main character in one of her father's elaborate stories. When he meets the king by chance one day, the miller tells him that his daughter can spin straw into gold. What king would not want to grow his wealth? The rest of the story, for the most part, follows the path of the original fairy tale.
Of course, she cannot do such a thing. While she sits alone in a room full of straw bemoaning the promise of certain death if she fails to complete the task, a tiny man pops up through an unseen door. She quickly shares her tale of woe. The little man explains that he is up to the task, but will need to be paid for his trouble. She promises her necklace.
The same thing happens the next night; she gives him her ring. On the third night, the king promises marriage; the little man demands her first born child. Terrified and unsure of her future, she agrees. When she marries the king and has that child, the tiny man comes looking for his reward. Upon seeing her tears, he gives her one last chance: if she can guess his name in three days, he will forget they made such a deal. It is an almost impossible task, as one would expect. Twice she fails. Her love for the outdoors is her saving grace. While walking with her son on the dark final evening, she happens across the tiny man singing and dancing around a fire; his song reveals his name. At his next visit, when the queen reveals what she has learned, he stomps himself into a puff of smoke and disappears forever.
This is an old story told through many childhoods. I love that Mac Barnett has given it a contemporary vibe that will make it very appealing to today's readers. It is chatty in its presentation with a subdued humor. Shared alongside his earlier The Three Billy Goats Gruff (Orchard, 2022), it is promising to think that the many children who have never heard an old fairy tale will have a chance to hear these new ones. Bring on more, please!
Ms. Ellis enhances the storytelling with her gouache color palette and the castle setting. The wall tapestries and the floor patterns give it a historical feel. Listeners will very much enjoy the meandering lists of names created for the queen as she tries her best to come up with Rumpelstiltskin.
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