Rumpelstiltskin

Rumpelstiltskin
Retold by: Paul O Zelinsky
Traditional

When a miller tells the king his daughter can spin straw into gold, the king takes the daughter and locks her in a tower for 3 nights so she can spin straw into cold or she will be executed. When the daughter loses all hope, a dwarf like man, Rumpelstiltskin comes to save the day. He spins straw into gold the first night for her in return for her necklace, the second night in return for her ring, and the third night in return for her first born child. The king was so impressed that he married the miller's daughter and they have a child. When Rumpelstiltskin comes back to claim his price, the queen does not want to give up her child so they make a bet. If the queen can figure out his name in 3 days, she can keep the baby. She had begun to lose hope after failing the first two days, but her messenger sees the dwarf singing in the woods a song that reveals his name. The messenger tells the queen and she guesses it right so she can keep her baby.

This can be used in a lesson about traditional fairy tales and folktales. The students can look through the book and find the common elements of fairy tales. It can also be used for some vocabulary words because there are some tricky words that will be good to look up and learn.