#960 of 1001 · March 18, 2023

To conclude Name of the Helper Week, let us examine Virginia Hamilton and Leo and Diane Dillon’s The Girl Who Spun Gold. Young Quashiba must live up to her mother’s lie—that she can spin a whole field of golden thread. The king will marry her if she can achieve the task, but he will leave her locked up if she cannot. In comes a tiny, shadow my man who offers to spin the gold for her. In return, if she cannot guess his name, he will make her tiny like him and carry her off. Only by a happy accident does the king overhear his name: Lit’mahn Bittyun. Confronted with his true name, the weird creature pops into a million flecks and scatters on the wind. Hamilton creates an energetic retelling, full of appealing details and turns of phrase. Fascinatingly, she reveals the little man’s name from the beginning of the narrative, leaving readers one step ahead of Quashiba. The Dillons provide lush illustrations executed in acrylic on acetate, followed by applications of gold paint (for the gold in the images) and gold leaf (for the borders). A note for folklore enthusiasts: In the back matter, Hamilton lists her source as “Mr. Titman”, from an 1899 collection of Caribbean folklore by Pamela Coleman Smith. #spin #spinning #gold #thread #queen #mother #name #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbooks #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookillustrations #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks