Hansel and Gretel

This classic retelling of the Grimm's fairy tale is pretty dark for children. A woodsman and his wife live on the edge of the woods with their two children, Hansel and Gretel. Unfortunately, there is not enough food to go around, so the mother convinces the woodsman to take the children out into the woods and leave them there. While he is reluctant to do so, the woodsman agrees. The children overhear the plan and are frightened, but Hansel has a plan. He sneaks out and gathers white pebbles, slipping them into his pocket, and sneaks back to bed. The next day, the woodsman leads the children into the woods and abandons them. But clever Hansel has left a trail of white pebbles, and they find their way home. None too please, the wife again show more convinces her husband to abandon their children in the wilderness, but this time, she locks the door. The woodsmen gives the children bread for the journey, so Hansel leaves a trail of breadcrumbs, but of course, the birds and animals eat them, destroying the trail. Alone and hungry, the children wander through the woods until they happen across a house made of bread, candy, and sweets. Famished, Hansel and Gretel begin gnawing at the house, when an old woman comes out and bids them to come in, where she will feed and take care of them. Well, she throws Hansel in a cage so that she can fatten him up, and makes Gretel her slave. Luckily, the old witch can't see that well, so whenever she goes to check on how juicy and fat Hansel is becoming, he sticks a bone out of the cage door, and in this way, keeps himself and his sister alive for a long time. But finally, the witch gets tired of waiting, so she tells Gretel to prepare the oven. Clever Gretel however, claims she can't do it, and asks the witch to show her how. As soon as the witch climbes in the oven, Gretel slams the door shut, roasting the old witch alive. She frees Hansel, and in the house, they find chests full of gold and jewels. They take what they can and head for home. Their father meets them on the walk and explains that their mother has conveniently dies, and the three of them live happily ever after, presumably after lots and lots of therapy.

This is one of the darkest fairy tales ever written, and that is a crowded field. Between the murderous mother, wet blanket accomplice father, and the cannibalistic witch, this story exemplifies why children should be wary of grownups. This version certainly doesn't shy away from the horror of the original story, although the illustrations, while beautiful, could have been darker and scarier, heightening the tale's essential creepiness. Because of the content, I would steer younger readers away from this story, but older children will enjoy the scariness of what happens to Hansel and Gretel.

For ages 8 - 10. show less

A retelling of one of the most famous fairytales of all time, parents use this story to keep children from wandering off in the fear they may be taken by a crazy witch who wants to eat them. The haunting illustrations in this are absolutely amazing. The shadowing it what stayed with me the most, I have heard the tale many times so for it to make such an impact must be granted tohe dark and ominous portrayels. The expressions on the kids faces are so true to the moment it makes it so much more real.

Oddly, the starving family doesn’t look very poor in the illustrations. They have a solid looking, well-furnished house in a lovely location near a forest. They could do a reverse mortgage and raise some cash. Apparently feudal Germany was crying out for some financial wizardry. A good loan originator could have saved these children, at least gotten this beleaguered family through a dry patch until the factory was hiring again. Of course, after a number of years, they would have to move out, but they would have needed to do that anyway.

Rika Lesser’s 1984 retelling of Hansel and Gretel provides the reader a concise, descriptive narrative of the German folktale of the brother and sister who are abandoned by their parents in the woods. Text is beautifully enhanced by Paul Zelinsky’s distinctive richly colored paintings that give a European verisimilitude to the woods, architecture, and clothing worn by the characters. In the Storyteller’s Note at the end of the book, Lesser provides historical details about the tale, identifying her narrative as closer to the original that the brothers Grimm first published in 1812 than many more embellished forms that came later. Target audience grades 1-3. A 1985 Caldecott Honor book.

Lesser, R., Grimm, W., Grimm, J., Zelinsky, P. show more O., Dodd, Mead & Company., & South China Printing Co. (1984). Hansel and Gretel. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company. show less

Hansel and Gretel is a traditional fairy tale that has been around for a very long time. I really liked this story due to the variety of characters and the detailed, colorful illustrations. The story begins with the mother forcing her husband to abandon their two children deep in the forest with nothing more than a little piece of bread. The mother is immediately depicted as an evil character without a heart. On the other hand, Hansel is depicted as clever as he lays white pebbles and pieces of bread as they walk, so the children will be able to find their way back home. However, after a few days in the forest, they find a house with a little old woman. Unfortunately, she ends up caging Hansel, so she can fatten him up and eventually show more eat him! She is also depicted as an evil character, despite her kind and inviting appearance. Luckily, Gretel saves the day. After many episodes of being weak and upset, she finally shows her courage as she pushes the evil old woman into the oven and saves both of their lives. This book creates a strong story through the use of protagonist and antagonist characters, immediately drawing the reader to follow the protagonists on their strange and scary journey.

Along with the characters, I also found that the colorful and detailed illustrations truly added to the story. The reader can visually experience the beauty of the bread and candy house, and the excitement and joy it brought the children. And also, experience the fear and surprise both Gretel and Hansel feel through their facial expressions when the old woman is no longer nice and inviting.

Overall, I think the main message is that not all people can be trusted. This message is very important for children to understand, because there are both strangers and people they are close to that could cause them harm. Most children wouldn't believe their own mother or a nice old woman would ever harm them, yet Hansel and Gretel are left in harmful situations by both of them. Although I believe the story has a strong message that all children should learn, this story can be very scary and disturbing for young children. show less

Hansel and Gretel are a brother and sister pair who get lost in the woods, thanks to their evil mother. After running out of food, she convinces her husband to dump their two kids into the woods to fend for themselves. The father is reluctant, but agrees, and the siblings are led to the woods and left there. After walking for three days, the pair stumble on a house made of bread, with a roof made of pancakes and windows of sugar. A kind old woman offer them dinner, but quickly locks Hansel up. Unknown to the kids, she is a witch who fattens up and eats children. The kids outsmart her for a while, until she loses patience and wishes to bake Hansel, fat or not. With craft, Gretel pushes the old witch into the oven and frees her brother. show more They take any treasure they can find and carry it back home. Their father is overjoyed to see them, reveals that their mother had died, and they live happily ever after.

The illustrations look like oil paintings and are muted colors. The most vibrant colors are the reds and oranges of the fire that the witch gets pushed into. The motions of each image are subtle, but draw the eye a certain way to follow what happens in the story. The emotions on their faces are stunning, because you can see the fear and anger. The body language of the kids are mostly defensive, leaning away from their mother and the witch. The images are detailed to look more 3D. Shadows help the images pop and the most texture is placed in the trees, where the leaves look almost real. Shadows are also used in the woods, where the trees are dark and foreboding against the light and colorful witch's house. show less

Hansel and Gretel's father struggles to provide for the family, their mother convinces her husband to leave the children in the forest, and he reluctantly agrees. The children are abandoned deep in the woods and happen upon a house made of bread, pancakes, and sugar candy. Of course, most of us know what happens next. Readers will be cheering for good to overcome evil.

Paul O. Zelinsky's award-winning illustrations kept the pages turning for me. I found that I was always drawn to the way he conveyed emotion through the characters' eyes.

This would be a good book to add to the school library's folk literature collection. The retelling of the story uses interesting language without being overly confusing to young readers. The large show more illustrations would help younger readers comprehend the plot as well. show less