A Tale Dark and Grimm [Hardcover]

Adam Gidwitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 2010 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

In this mischievous and utterly original debut, Hansel and Gretel walk out of their own story and into eight other classic Grimm-inspired tales. As readers follow the siblings through a forest brimming with menacing foes, they learn the true story behind (and beyond) the bread crumbs, edible houses, and outwitted witches.

Fairy tales have never been more irreverent or subversive as Hansel and Gretel learn to take charge of their destinies and become the clever architects of their own happily ever after.

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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 3 Up–Starred Review. With disarming delicacy and unexpected good cheer, Gidwitz reweaves some of the most shocking and bloody stories that the Brothers Grimm collected into a novel that's almost addictively compelling. He gives fair warning that this is no prettified, animated version of the old stories. “Are there any small children in the room now?” he asks midway through the first tale, “If so, it would be best if we just...hurried them off to bed. Because this is where things start to get, well...awesome.” Many of humanity's least attractive, primal emotions are on display: greed, jealousy, lust, and cowardice. But, mostly it's the unspeakable betrayal by bad parents and their children's journey to maturation and forgiveness that are at the heart of the book. Anyone who's ever questioned why Hansel and Gretel's father is so readily complicit in their probable deaths and why the brother and sister, nonetheless, return home after their harrowing travails will find satisfying explanations here. Gidwitz is terrifying and funny at the same time. His storytelling is so assured that it's hard to believe this is his debut novel. And his treatment of the Grimms' tales is a whole new thing. It's equally easy to imagine parents keeping their kids up late so they can read just one more chapter aloud, kids finishing it off under the covers with a flashlight, and parents sneaking into their kids' rooms to grab it off the nightstand and finish it themselves.–Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Public Library, NYα(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From Booklist

As if Hansel and Gretel didn’t already have it tough in their original fairy tale, Gidwitz retrofits a handful of other obscure Grimm stories and casts the siblings as heroes. Connecting the dots, he crafts a narrative that has the twins beheaded (and reheaded, thankfully), dismembered, hunted, killed, brought back to life, sent to hell, and a number of other terrible fates en route to their happily ever after. Some adults will blanch at the way Gidwitz merrily embraces the gruesomeness prevalent in the original tales, but kids won’t mind a bit, and they’ll get some laughs out of the way he intrudes on the narrative (“This is when things start to get, well . . . awesome. But in a horrible, bloody kind of way”). The author also snarkily comments on the themes, sometimes a bit too heavy-handedly. The question many readers might have about the Grimms’ tales is perfectly pondered by the long-suffering twins: “Are there no good grown-ups anymore?” Not in these forests, kiddos. Grades 4-7. --Ian Chipman

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile (October 28, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525423346
• ISBN-13: 978-0525423348
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,392 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Adam Gidwitz grew up in Baltimore. Now he lives in Brooklyn and teaches kids large and slightly less large at Saint Ann's School. Adam only writes about what he's experienced personally. So, while all of the strange, hilarious, and frightening things in A TALE DARK AND GRIMM really did happen to Hansel and Gretel, they also happened to Adam. Of course, if you've ever had a childhood, they've probably happened to you, too.

Customer Reviews

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

By 

Caitlin Snyder (Lexington, KY) - See all my reviews
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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.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious, wise, sophisticated, November 5, 2010

By 

Justin Wyatt Dunham - See all my reviews
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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.

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

By 

Ally B. - See all my reviews

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.