Hansel and Gretel [Hardcover]

Beni Montresor (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2001

In this adaptation of the classic tale by a Caldecott Medal winner, the brother and sister duo are depicted in vivid colors with a computer-enhanced collage to present an almost theatrical interpretation to the story. Full-color illustrations.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Montresor, an internationally known set designer, presents the tale of the intrepid children as a kind of shadow puppet play. Sharp-edged paper-cutout silhouettes of the children stand stiffly in a succession of stark, monumental stage sets, the first one their ramshackle home and, later, the witch's abode, here represented by a castle rather than the edible house of the Grimms' tale. Montresor creates razor-sharp cutouts in colors that reverberate against their backgrounds with such intensity that the compositions sometimes seem to throw off heat. Yet the images themselves are often chilly: the siblings' skeleton of a house, with jack-o'-lantern eyes and a gaping mouth of a doorway; the Hansel and Gretel cut-outs laid sideways in a lonely forest asleep; the crenellated towers and jail bars of the witch's house. The text, centered on the left-hand pages across from the illustrations on the right, omits the wicked stepmother, but still contains plenty of spooky moments: "They knew that in the woods there was sometimes an evil monster, not to mention terrifying devils and witches. One of these witches, more wicked than the others, eats children." In the customary happy ending, Hansel and Gretel free a parade of paper-doll children, but Montresor's graphic formalism may lose readers on the way. Ages 4-8.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

reS-Gr 1-In this very abbreviated yet powerful version of the classic tale, Hansel and Gretel leave their ramshackle home to search for food. They fall asleep in a wood filled with monsters, devils, and witches, then awaken outside a castle. Smelling delicious aromas, they enter the building and Hansel is caged by the resident witch; but Gretel seizes the witch's magic wand, releases her brother, and incinerates the wicked sorceress. They both then free the other children imprisoned in the castle and "everything ended joyfully for everyone." The cut-paper collages in primary colors are every bit as stark and stylized as the text, with static character shapes posed against flat backgrounds. The still gestures and stage-set scenery evoke shadow puppetry. Set on white pages opposite the illustrations, the minimal text reduces this story to its most basic. Accessible to very young listeners, the Spartan retelling retains the violence and darkness of the original but the choppy narrative excludes the wicked stepmother, the fattening of Hansel, and the reunification of the family. Visually appealing to the picture-book crowd, this mystical and provocative version is more unsettling than entertaining for its intended audience.

Carol Ann Wilson, Westfield Memorial Library, NJ

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum; 1st edition (September 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689841442
• ISBN-13: 978-0689841446
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,894,757 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Visually stunning, but..., April 30, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Hansel and Gretel (Hardcover)

As mentioned in one of the reviewing sources, this IS a very visually stunning work, but I find the text to be lacking. It seems like an odd dream. I usually enjoy a retelling that is a bit different than the original, but this one did not work for me. It seems to have lost a lot of the "flavor" of the original tale. For the intended audience, I would suggest a version illustrated by Susan Jeffers, Paul O. Zelinsky, or Paul Galdone -- the text AND illustrations are good in these.