Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
New version of the old school--HILARIOUS, November 2, 2010
This review is from: A Tale Dark and Grimm (Hardcover)
Instead of going with the trend of softening Grimms' tales, Gidwitz throws caution to the wind and bloodies them right back up. By the second page, I was cracking up. By the third, I knew this would be the book I read to my 8, 11, and 13 year old nieces and nephews this Thanksgiving.
Gidwitz's style of addressing the readers and warning them about the terror that's coming lightens the story, moves it along and really connects the reader to the speaker. It's amazing. It also serves its stated purpose of warning the smaller children about impending violence. It's tongue in cheek, but it's also an actual tool to let parents know what's coming up.
I'm a children's librarian, and I'm so excited to get my copies (yes, I ordered multiple, that excited) in. I finally have something cool to recommend to my middle grade readers who want something quick and a little scarier than normal fantasy.
Gidwitz uses Hansel and Gretel as the protagonists of the collected tales, drawing them all together into one cohesive history of these strong, unlucky twins. For the most part, you can assume just about everybody dies at some point, but where it really counts they come back to life. Riot. Absolute riot.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hilarious, wise, sophisticated, November 5, 2010
This review is from: A Tale Dark and Grimm (Hardcover)
Wow, did I enjoy reading this. Gidwitz is, first of all, a fantastic storyteller. The tale is pretty complex, and also fairly horrifying, but it moves at a rapid pace and is constantly enlivened by clever jokes, allusions, and tongue-in-cheek "warnings" about what's to come. These last will appeal to bloody-minded readers of all ages, by which I of course mean everyone.
And yet all the while, Gidwitz seems to be communicating this profound wisdom about childhood, and parents, and families, and anything you can think of that's related. I know extremely little about children's literature and especially little about the Grimm's tales, so I can't say much from that perspective. But as an adult, the poignant meditations on growing up, and on what parents can and can't be, struck me among many, many other things.
In fact, this happened so many times that I wondered whether this book is secretly written primarily for adults. I will not be surprised if I return to this when I have my own children, as a guide to their world and my role in it. Highly recommended.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An Okay Book for the Right Audience, June 13, 2011
This review is from: A Tale Dark and Grimm (Hardcover)
I didn't pay much attention to the book's intended audience when I checked it out at the library. The cover's art lured me in, and the idea of a sort of adult retelling of Grimm stories hooked me into reading it. Now, had I noticed the words, "Dutton Children's Books" printed in several places on the book, I would have had a better idea of what I was in for. But alas, I did not.
As another reviewer mentioned, the writing is elementary. The author's interjections are mildly annoying (to an adult expecting, wrongly, a more mature style of writing). The story left me feeling, well... Pretty bored.
However, this book was not written for me. It would be a good fit for middle schoolers who delight in the gore and the idea of children rising up above adults. I'm sure that from the 5th-8th grade or so I would have enjoyed it, though I doubt it would have ever topped my list of favorite reads. A lot of preteens will have fun with it, though, and then (likely) forget it.
It is really NOT appropriate for elementary aged children. I read to my children every night and have explored a large variety of literary worlds with them, but this is NOT one that we will be going to together. The gore for gore's sake, the "every adult is horrible" mentality, the darkness of so many of the characters, as well as many concepts that an elementary school student has no need to know about (i.e. Drunkeness, Gambling, etc.) have no place in a young child's bedtime story. Hence the reason such things were weeded out of the Grimm tales when parents started telling them to children in the first place.
Which brings up a point: Yes, the Brothers Grimm told dirty, bloody, scary stories. But they told them to adults, and over the years they were cleaned up for children. If someone is really interested in the original tales, I highly recommend just buying Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales, and reading them as they were always meant to be read.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|