Publisher’s Story Summary: 0nce upon a time a miller's daughter was given an impossible task by a cruel and greedy king. She had to spin straw into gold. And who should show up to help her but an odd little man named Rumpelstiltskin. According to tradition, the gold-bedazzled king and the miller's daughter are wed. But wait just a minute! This king is definitely not husband material, and there's someone else who is -- a hardworking guy who's supportive and nice looking, and who really comes through in a pinch. Why not marry Rumpelstiltskin?

In Diane Stanley's merry rethinking of the traditional tale, Rumpelstiltskin and the miller's daughter are wed...and then sixteen years later their only daughter is stuck in the same dilemma: She's been locked in a room full of straw to spin for a greedy king! She could call for help from her father, but this fairy-tale heroine has some canny plans of her own. 

How Rumpelstiltskin's daughter sets things to rights in the troubled kingdom, while achieving a unique place for herself, makes for a wise and witty tale of kindness and cleverness rewarded. Diane Stanley's wickedly funny text and zesty illustrations put a delightful new spin on a classic fairy tale. Rumpelstiltskin's daughter may not be able to spin straw into gold, but she is more than a match for a monarch whose greed has blighted an entire kingdom.

LESSON: RUMPELSTILTSKIN’S DAUGHTER

Lesson Summary

Rumpelstiltskin's daughter outwits the greedy king, who tries to get her to spin straw into gold just as her father once did. In the end, she helps a troubled community overcome their economic problems created by the king.

Concept: Goods and Services

Definition: A good is an object people want that they can touch or hold. A service is an action that a person does for someone else.

Comprehension Questions:

Identify the good the king wanted the miller's daughter to spin from straw? 
Gold

What service did Rumpelstiltskin offer to do in exchange for the miller's daughter's necklace?
Spin the straw into gold

In exchange for spinning the straw into gold for the second time, what good did the miller's daughter offer
Rumpelstiltskin?
A cigar-band pinkie ring.

Explain how Rumpelstilskin provided for his family when they wanted something they couldn't make or grow.
He produced gold that he used to get the goods and services his family couldn't grow or make themselves.

Describe the economic problem in the kingdom that resulted from the king's greediness for more and more gold.
Food and clothing - which are scarce economic goods - became even more scarce for the people. It appears that the greedy king had taxed his people into great poverty.

List the goods or services provided by the following people in the kingdom that were a direct result of the tricks played on the king by Rumpelstiltskin's daughter:

farmer goods - wheat, barley, apples, green beans, pumpkins, corn cook service - prepared a feast to celebrate granny goods (made from wool) - sweaters, mufflers, vests, knickers, socks, nightcaps, tam-o'-shanter guards services - built a zoo for the crocodiles from the stones that were once walls; built houses for the poor

Extra Credit Question!

What capital resource was used to make the gold (good) from the straw?
A spinning wheel.

Other Concepts: Economic Wants, Producers, Natural Resources, Human Resources, Capital Resources, Scarcity, Trade and Money

  Good and Services   

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