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Tilabel
Inept Tilabel, forced to spin, weave, and sew for the groundhog queen, is aided by three old "aunts", thus ensuring her marriage to the prince.
Hardcover
First published March 1, 1978
8 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Coombs
42 books67 followersPatricia Coombs was born on July 23, 1926 in Los Angeles, California and during her school age years lived in Hawaii, Boston, New York, and San Francisco. She was always reading books and would hide in unusual places to avoid getting caught reading instead of playing. She attended DePauw University, Michigan State University, and received her bachelor's and master's degrees in English from the University of Washington. She also studied poetry at New York University.
In 1962, Coombs wrote and illustrated Dorrie's Magic, inspired by her two daughters and their Siamese cat named Dingbat. The book was highly praised by the New York Times Book Review, and Coombs went on to create the "Dorrie the Little Witch" series. She wrote 20 stories about Dorrie and her adventures as a little witch over the next 30 years, ending with Dorrie and the Haunted Schoolhouse in 1992.
Coombs has also illustrated for other authors and contributed to Poetry Magazine.
From: Major Authors and Illustrators, pp. 562-564, courtesy of The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at The University of Southern Mississippi and Wikipedia.org
In 1962, Coombs wrote and illustrated Dorrie's Magic, inspired by her two daughters and their Siamese cat named Dingbat. The book was highly praised by the New York Times Book Review, and Coombs went on to create the "Dorrie the Little Witch" series. She wrote 20 stories about Dorrie and her adventures as a little witch over the next 30 years, ending with Dorrie and the Haunted Schoolhouse in 1992.
Coombs has also illustrated for other authors and contributed to Poetry Magazine.
From: Major Authors and Illustrators, pp. 562-564, courtesy of The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at The University of Southern Mississippi and Wikipedia.org
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 1, 2019
It seems almost sacrilege to give a Patricia Coombs book anything other than a rave review. After all, her
Dorrie the Little Witch
series was a staple of my early childhood reading, checked out of the library again and again, and I have also enjoyed many of her non-Dorrie titles, from
The Magic Pot
to
The Magician and McTree
. My discovery, as an adult, that there are a number of Coombs' books that I have not yet read, has been very exciting.
Unfortunately, after requesting Tilabel through Inter-Library Loan, I find that it does not live up to my (admittedly high) expectations. Truth be told, three stars was probably a little generous - influenced by my inability to conceive of a Coombs book not being fabulous. The story, in which a young groundhog's work ethic is misrepresented to the Queen, is apparently based on a German folktale, but no attribution is given, and I was so indifferent that I couldn't be bothered to research it. I can see elements of Rumpelstiltskin here, but not enough to give the tale any interest. The illustrations had no more appeal for me than the narrative, looking crowded and muddled. Such a disappointment, when I was expecting to adore this!
Unfortunately, after requesting Tilabel through Inter-Library Loan, I find that it does not live up to my (admittedly high) expectations. Truth be told, three stars was probably a little generous - influenced by my inability to conceive of a Coombs book not being fabulous. The story, in which a young groundhog's work ethic is misrepresented to the Queen, is apparently based on a German folktale, but no attribution is given, and I was so indifferent that I couldn't be bothered to research it. I can see elements of Rumpelstiltskin here, but not enough to give the tale any interest. The illustrations had no more appeal for me than the narrative, looking crowded and muddled. Such a disappointment, when I was expecting to adore this!
January 26, 2022
Tilabel appears to be an adaptation of Grimm’s “The Three Spinners” aka The Three Spinning Women which is a variant of Rumpelstiltskin that I am quite fond of. However, I am perplexed as to why Ms. Coombs opted against a straightforward adaptation, but instead decided to convert the human characters over to groundhogs. The story faithfully unfolds under The Three Spinners framework but at the end adds a bonus announcement of the creation of a new holiday for the kingdom of groundhogs: Groundhog Day! (Don’t we already have an existing origin story for Groundhog Day related to Candlemas? Is there a folkloric connection between The Three Spinners and groundhogs? Or are children simply more into groundhogs than I realize?) Alas, for now my questions will have to remain unanswered. I really wanted to enjoy this more, but I just couldn’t connect with the characters in this rendering and the groundhog element just seemed inexplicable and odd to me.
October 21, 2019
A sweet groundhog rendition of Rumpelstilskin.
June 30, 2019
This quasi fairy tale is basically an origin story for Groundhog Day. I'm not sure I really care for it. The ending doesn't make a lot of sense, given everything that came before. Then again, we're talking about sentient groundhogs who live like humans. Maybe it's not supposed to make a lot of sense.
Tilabel doesn't like to work. She's also terrible at spinning, weaving, and sewing, but her mother tries to force her to do it anyway. One day, during one of these sessions, Tilabel's mother is cuffing her on the head to try to make her skills better (like that's going to work), and the passing queen hears the commotion. Tilabel's mother lies and tells the queen that her daughter loves to work and won't stop, so the queen takes her off to the castle for a little bit of slave labour: spinning, weaving, and sewing. In a Rumpelstiltskin-like twist, Tilabel is visited each night by an old woman with a strange deformity. In exchange for calling her "Aunt" and asking her to the prince's birthday party, each woman agrees to do the work. The queen is pleased, and Tilabel ends up at the party as a guest where she meets the prince... who doesn't believe in work, either. The queen, frustrated with her lazy son, declares Tilabel the new queen. Tilabel institutes labour reforms and creates new holidays... among them, Groundhog Day.
The pictures are all black and white (except for the cover, which is quite cute), so I don't know how much appeal this will have to young kids. The book is also quite heavy on the text, so except as a read-aloud title, it might be a bit intimidating.
It's an okay book, but I guess I was expecting more from this author. It's an adequate fairy tale, but it's not particularly memorable or unique (except for the groundhog aspect).
Tilabel doesn't like to work. She's also terrible at spinning, weaving, and sewing, but her mother tries to force her to do it anyway. One day, during one of these sessions, Tilabel's mother is cuffing her on the head to try to make her skills better (like that's going to work), and the passing queen hears the commotion. Tilabel's mother lies and tells the queen that her daughter loves to work and won't stop, so the queen takes her off to the castle for a little bit of slave labour: spinning, weaving, and sewing. In a Rumpelstiltskin-like twist, Tilabel is visited each night by an old woman with a strange deformity. In exchange for calling her "Aunt" and asking her to the prince's birthday party, each woman agrees to do the work. The queen is pleased, and Tilabel ends up at the party as a guest where she meets the prince... who doesn't believe in work, either. The queen, frustrated with her lazy son, declares Tilabel the new queen. Tilabel institutes labour reforms and creates new holidays... among them, Groundhog Day.
The pictures are all black and white (except for the cover, which is quite cute), so I don't know how much appeal this will have to young kids. The book is also quite heavy on the text, so except as a read-aloud title, it might be a bit intimidating.
It's an okay book, but I guess I was expecting more from this author. It's an adequate fairy tale, but it's not particularly memorable or unique (except for the groundhog aspect).
October 6, 2008
Tilabel is a good picture book that would satisfy an early reader. It is about a groundhog named Tilabel that has a free spirit, but her mother wants her to work. Tilabel goes to the castle to work for the Queen and make presents for Prince Grundel's birthday. This book is about having fun and a free spirit in life, which symbolizes enjoying life. Some issues raised in this book are fantasy and using animals as characters. Tilabel is about becoming a Queen. It would be an excellent book for a read-aloud. The pictures in Tilabel confirm the meaning of the book.
November 3, 2021
Another new fairy tale-like story of magical aunts that help someone with their chores- who is hopeless with any craft, yet she does try, although she would rather play in Nature. Her magic aunts arrive to the party and are greeted as promised. The reward is Tilabel is the Queen that reduces work hours, and creates many holidays for rest!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews