Hansel and Gretel

Hansel and Gretel

Written by: Cynthia Rylant

Illustrated by: Jen Corace

Hyperion Books for Children, 2008

40 pages

Picture Book – Traditional Literature

            I chose Hansel and Gretel because I remember reading it as a child. This book retells the original story of Hansel and Gretel, but this book places more of an emphasis on the courage of the children. Like the original Hansel and Gretel, this book has the same creepiness and darkness. This story is pretty similar to the original. Hansel and Gretel are left in the woods because their stepmother is tired of them eating her food. The father is sick and can’t help the children. The children are left in the woods, and they stumble upon a house made of sweets. A witch tricks them and captures them. She is preparing to eat them, but the children outsmart her. 

The children return home to find the stepmother dead and their father feeling much better. 

            Jen Corace is the illustrator of this book. Jen’s medium of choice is a pen and ink. For this book, it was not ink, but rather concentrated watercolor, acrylic, and watercolor paint on watercolor paper. The illustrations have rich, warm colors, but the pictures still have an eerie feel to them. The children’s faces are not detailed, and they look scary. 

            This book says that it is appropriate for ages 4-8, but I think it should be 8 and up. I don’t think that discussing cannibalism is appropriate for a four-year-old. I would use this book for a 3^rd grade science lesson about survival in the woods. This would be a great book to read when teaching 3^rd grade students about the woods and how to survive there. You could discuss how Hansel left crumbs to try to navigate back to his house. If someone wanted to read this book to a younger age group, they could use this book in a 1^st grade math lesson. The teacher would read the book and discuss the part where the boy left white stones on the ground to lead him back home. The teacher could have the students lay rocks down on the ground from their classroom to the lunchroom and let them count them. This book could also be used as a character education book. This book talks a lot about having courage and being brave, this would be appropriate for any grade.