Wednesday, July 8, 2015

July Grades 3-4 Book Club: Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff

In July, we discussed Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff. Andrew, Clare, Ellie, and Owen were present. Please find some of the comments about the book below. 


1. In the magical kingdom where Rump is set, a name determines a person's destiny. How do you think names affect people? If you had a different name, do you think that you or your life would be different?
-I think that I would have a different destiny if my name were different. When you have a bad name, you probably won't have as good as a destiny as other people.
-In the book, only one person could have a name, like Red.




2. Rump thinks that he isn't smart, mostly because of his name. Do you agree? Does Rump's belief about himself change how he sees the world? How does this affect the choices he makes?
 
-When Rump goes on the journey to rescue Opal, he gets courage even though he has his name. He does make smart decisions.
-I don't think he's stupid at all. He makes good decisions sometimes.
-The bullies are not being smart.




3. What events or actions from the original Grimm Brothers' tale of Rumpelstiltskin are explained or clarified in Rump? What liberties did the author take in changing the original tale?


-It adds more details to the story.
-This one is definitely different.
-Red. The pixies. The gold. Red's granny.
-Yonder and Beyond.


4. The original Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale is written from the third-person point of view, while Rump is written from Rump's first-person point of view. How does that affect the two stories and what we understand about them? How might point of view affect other stories, or even history?


-In the third person, it often moves to a different character. In the first person, it stays with the same character. If you do third person, you learn from different perspectives. In first person, you learn more detail.
-Rump talks about his destiny, which you wouldn't know in third person.
-In the original story, Rumpelstiltskin's reasons for doing things are not obvious.




5. What are pixies? Would you consider them to be helpful or harmful? How does their presence change the story or cause certain events to happen?


-The pixies are little fairy things. They are both harmful and helpful. They bite but they can help you find gold. They are greedy.
-Near the end, Rump finds their helpfulness.
-The pixies are pests. They change though. They used to sing and dance and be happy but now they are just pests trying to find gold because there is so little gold for them to find.
-They are like little fleas trying to steal your gold. They try to bite. They are harmful and they are harmful.




7. Throughout the story, there are many secrets that are kept and revealed. Instances of someone keeping an important secret from someone else. What reasons do each of these characters have for keeping a secret? Does trying to keep the secret accomplish what each character hoped it would?


-I think that not telling Gran about the gold was hurtful because she had so much stress and she died.
-I wouldn't trade the gold to the fat greedy miller.
-I would say that Rump should have traded with someone nice. Rump kept going back to the greedy miller who wouldn't have given him a better bargain.



8. What other fairy tales were mentioned in Rump

-The Witch of the Woods
-Red is Little Red Riding Hood


10. Do you think that the author should write a sequel or companion book to Rump?

-No
-Yes



11. On a scale from 1-10, how would you rate Rump?

-7
-10
-9.5 
-10

We will be meeting on Wednesday, August 5th at 3:00 p.m. to discuss The Terrible Two by Mac Barnett and Jory John. Please remember to sign up at the Circulation Desk when you pick up your copy of the book!

Miles Murphy is not happy to be moving to Yawnee Valley, a sleepy town that’s famous for one thing and one thing only: cows. In his old school, everyone knew him as the town’s best prankster, but Miles quickly discovers that Yawnee Valley already has a prankster, and a great one. If Miles is going to take the title from this mystery kid, he is going to have to raise his game.

It’s prankster against prankster in an epic war of trickery, until the two finally decide to join forces and pull off the biggest prank ever seen: a prank so huge that it would make the members of the International Order of Disorder proud.













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