The Girl Who Spun Gold

Hamilton, V. (2000). The Girl Who Spun Gold. Illus. Leo & Diane Dillon. New York, New York: The Blue Sky Press.

Brief Annotation: Quashiba is an average girl who was made queen even though she was not a princess. One day, Big King came riding up to Quashiba and her mama told Big King that Quashiba could spin thread into gold, even though she couldn’t. Big King could not refuse to make Quashiba his queen so she could spin him lots of gold. When the day came for Queenie Quashiba to spin gold, she became afraid a tiny creature came to her rescue named Lit’mahn. Lit’mahn told Quashiba he could spin her thread into gold as long as she guessed his name within three nights; if she couldn’t she was to become tinier than Lit’mahn and be carried away from her life.

Genre: Folktale Comparison

Grade Level: K-3

Readers who will like this: Readers who like folktales and using their imagination will enjoy this book.

Response/Rating (1-4): *** This book is a different twist on the American version of Rumpelstiltskin and is fun to see the cultural differences in this book.

One question you would ask before a read aloud: What would you do if you were forced to create something but couldn’t? Would you lie and say you will do the task, or would you tell that person the truth?