The Girl Who Spun Gold by Virginia Hamilton
The Girl Who Spun Gold by Virginia Hamilton, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon
Suggested reading level: Ages 4-8
Folktales of little men who help women spin thread or straw into gold are told with different variations throughout the world. "Rumpelstiltskin" is probably the best known, but this book retells a West Indian version.
Quashiba and her mother are spinning thread in the shade of a tree when Big King rides past. Quashiba's mother brags to the king that her daughter can spin fields of fine gold thread. The king decides that he will marry Quashiba, but warns her that after one year and one day of marriage she must begin spinning the golden thread and fill three whole rooms. Of course, the time eventually comes and he locks her into the room one night. He actually padlocks the door, telling her that if she doesn't do it she will stay locked in forever.
A tiny, ugly man floats into the room and tells...