Hansel & Gretel

by Holly Hobbie (Artist)

Overview

Holly Hobbie brings to life a favorite spooky tale from childhood.

When a woodcutter and his scheming wife abandon Hansel and Gretel in the forest, all hope is lost until they come upon a cottage made of tasty sweets. But the owner is not the kindly old woman she pretends to be. Can Gretel save Hansel from the clutches of a hungry witch? Holly Hobbie's masterful watercolors reach new heights in this spine-tingling rendition of the tale, faithful to the beloved classic.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316388054
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	09/29/2015
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
File size:	9 MB
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Holly Hobbie has worked as an artist for nearly forty years and has also illustrated the classic poem The Night Before Christmas. She is the author of eleven acclaimed, bestselling Toot & Puddle picture books as well as Gem, Fanny, Fanny & Annabelle, and Everything but the Horse.

Editorial Reviews

★ 07/20/2015
Neil Gaiman and Lorenzo Mattotti’s version of Hansel and Gretel may be a current darling, but Hobbie’s version is as harrowing, if not more; the starving family’s plight and grim cruelty that drive the action seem grounded in a not-very-distant world (witch in a pointy hat notwithstanding). It starts on the first spread, when the stepmother announces at the dinner table that if the children’s woodcutter father refuses to reduce the number of hungry mouths by two, he’ll need to “Make four coffins.... One for each of us” (a phrase drawn from the Brothers Grimm). Working in watercolor, ink, and gouache, Hobbie (Gem) offers an emotionally searing scene: Gretel has stopped stirring her gruel and stares at the stepmother, while Hansel, his spoon frozen inches from his mouth, looks wide-eyed at his father. The woodcutter, dressed in overalls (a Let Us Now Praise Famous Men vibe accompanies many of the images), has his back to readers, so his reaction—horror? resignation?—can only be imagined. Both the witch and the stepmother are eventually dispatched, but until that happens Hansel and Gretel have seldom seemed more vulnerable and abandoned. Ages 3–6. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Hansel & Gretel:
*"Neil Gaiman and Lorenzo Mattotti's version of Hansel and Gretel may be a current darling, but Hobbie's version is as harrowing, if not more"—Publishers Weekly, starred review

" Hobbie's stripped-down retelling of "Hansel and Gretel" maintains a high degree of fidelity to the classic fairy tale, while her illustrations reveal a rich array of artistic influences on her visual interpretation of the story.... A fine addition to the fairy-tale shelves."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2015-06-16
Hobbie's stripped-down retelling of "Hansel and Gretel" maintains a high degree of fidelity to the classic fairy tale, while her illustrations reveal a rich array of artistic influences on her visual interpretation of the story.Befitting the tragic beginnings of the tale, Hobbie eschews the pastoral, light style she's known for in her eponymous commercial illustrations and in the Toot and Puddle books. Eerie, dark landscapes abound, and shades of German expressionism are apparent in the hollow, gaunt faces of the woodcutter and his wife, while the children's waiflike but spritely depictions bring to mind the earthy style of illustrator Brock Cole. The witch, meanwhile, is white of face, round of form, and spindly-limbed, making her reminiscent of the wicked crones found in Anthony Browne's and Lisbeth Zwerger's retellings of the same tale. This is not to say that Hobbie's work is derivative, and given her usual style, it's remarkable that her strongest pictures are those that indulge in the dark and dreary. There are also some marvelous, cheery compositions, including the one depicting the children's reunion with their father. Here, he stands before a white sheet hanging on the line, creating a natural bright highlight behind his open arms as his children run toward him.A fine addition to the fairy-tale shelves. (Picture book/fairy tale. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews