Rump The True Story of Rumpelstilskin by Liesl Shurtliff

NBC’s Grimm is one of my favorite shows.  The show is an updated version of the Brothers Grimm. During the first episode the viewers discover that Nick Burkhardt, a Portland detective, is actually a Grimm.  For centuries Grimms have battled the evils.  As a Grimm, Nick can see what creature is really hidden behind the façade of a human.  It is this play on old stories that are so fun to watch and read.

Recently I received an advance reader’s copy of

Rump The True Story of Rumpelstilskin by Liesl Shurtliff.  Now any play on the word butt is going to get a boys attention.    This book definitely does not disappoint.  Rump’s mother died during childbirth.  Her last partial word was her new babies name….Rump!  I mean how sad?  She died before even saying his whole name.  In this magical land little gnomes run around announcing the name of newborn babies.  It was hard growing up and being the butt of so many jokes.  (Sorry I couldn’t help it.)  It is a hard life for Rump and his grandmother.  He must work in the gold mines all day, there is little food, and he is bullied non-stop. 

Rump does have a friend named Red.  Her grandmother lives in the forest.  See another twist to the old stories. As Rump gets older he discovers that he can spin straw into gold.  This of course leads to many bad times for the two friends.

I am not going to give away more about the story because you need to have fun reading it. I am ordering a copy this week for the classroom, so that it gets passed around and read by kids.  Rump is filled with humor, no parents, evil people, magic and more humor.  It has everything a boy read wants, and needs in a book.

Too often books based on old stories get lost in trying to take themselves too seriously.  Ms. Shurtliff has fun, and that is why I REALLY enjoyed Rump The True Story of Rumpelstilskin.