#310 of 1001 · June 6, 2021

It’s high time I kicked off another fairy tale theme week, and this time I’ll be journeying through seven versions of Rumpelstiltskin! To begin, an adaptation translated Anthea Bell and illustrated by Bernadette Watts. The text remains faithful to the original Grimm story, while the soft-colored and -textured illustrations achieve an idyllic sweetness. Rumpelstiltskin himself, with his long white beard, cherry-red nose and cheeks, and green hose, tunic, and cap, resembles a whimsical gnome. A note for folklore enthusiasts: Bell’s translation includes the ending of the story in which Rumpelstiltskin, apoplectic with rage at the queen’s discovery of his secret name, stamps one leg into the ground, grabs his other leg, and pulls on it so hard that he tears himself in half. In the original 1812 edition of Kinder- und Hausmärchen, the little man simply runs away in anger. The colorful moment of extreme gore was added by the Brothers Grimm in later revisions of the text, a moralistic punishment for the man’s threat to take the queen’s child. Watts, having perhaps concluded that this disturbing image might prove too much for children to witness even in illustrated form, tones down the violence by depicting Rumpelstiltskin a moment beforehand, as he begins his fateful stamping. #spin #spinning #wheel #gold #queen #baby #name #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbooks #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookillustrations #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks