Review - Tilabel

Tilabel
by Patricia Coombs
Date: 1978
Publisher: Lothrop, Lee and Shepard
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: Open Library

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.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

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).

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3 out of 5