Hansel and Gretel

First sentence: Once upon a time, long before your grandmother's grandmother was born, a poor broom maker and his wife lived on the edge of a great dark forest with his two children, Hansel and Gretel. The broom maker was an easygoing man; his wife, the children's stepmother, was a shrew who liked to have her way and mostly got it.

Premise/plot: The illustrations are by Maurice Sendak. The narrative text is by Stephen King. The story, obviously, is Hansel and Gretel. This "picture" book features plenty of illustrations, but, it is extremely text-heavy.

My thoughts: I have not read the variations of Hansel and Gretel. I know that Grimm's Fairy Tales have gone through several printings and there are some variations perhaps. I could not show more begin to tell you how Stephen King's retelling differs from the original. I'm not even going to try to judge that. I could not tell you if this one is "lighter" or "darker" than the original. I just don't know. I can tell you that I enjoyed Maurice Sendak's illustrations. And the narrative text was pleasant enough. I wasn't wowed by the retelling. Then again, I'm not sure that Hansel and Gretel has ever been my favorite fairy tale. show less

Stephen King spins a new version of Hansel and Gretel inspired by some old art Maurice Sendak left lying around. King keeps a lot of the familiar beats but includes a minor character from his Dark Tower series to make it a more essential tale for his hard-core fans.

It's in picture book format, but it's probably too wordy and eerie for younger tots, even around Halloween.

The artwork is exquisite! The story? Well, without opening up the original to compare, it read just like the tale that I remembered. So not really anything to go crazy about. The author does throw in Rhea of the Coos as the witch (From the Dark Tower!), so that was a bone for us Constant Readers! But apart from that, I don't really think this is a necessary addition to any Stephen King collection. Still, it's fun to read around Halloween, and would be a nice way to introduce the fable to youngsters.

“Nibble, nibble, little mouse, who is nibbling at my house?”

A reasonably workmanlike retelling of the grim tale of Hansel and Gretel, one of the darker "children's" books. Don't get me wrong, King did a decent job, but he didn't really add much to the narrative that Sendak didn't add first.

But. The Sendak illustrations? Gorgeous. They elevate this story to something special. The five stars are mostly for the visuals.

I preordered this book when I heard about it. When it arrived, I couldn’t bring myself to just “dive in.” I had to savor the beauty of the book, linger over the pages, etc. I wanted to take in this beloved children’s story (a favorite of mine) with King’s retelling and Sendak’s artwork. Totally with the wait! I’m so glad to have my own copy of this little treasure!

What a wonderful retelling and the narration was really fun. I didn't get the watered down fairytales read to me as a child, so it felt pretty faithful to the version I grew up with.

Nice retelling of the classic Grimm tale. King does a good job with the story and his words are embedded in wonderful images drawn by the impeccable Maurice Sendak.