Customer Reviews

A Tale Dark and Grimm

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

The title alone should prepare you for Adam Gidwitz's wry sense of humor as he retells the Brothers Grimm's classic tales. In an interesting twist, the author makes Hansel and Gretel the main characters in every story. However, the Hansel and Gretel in Gidwitz's version are not the sweet and innocent victims we all know and love. A Tale Dark and Grimm is both funny and gross. Like Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series or Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, it will appeal to both boys and girls; to those who love to laugh and to those who love blood, guts, gore, and adventure. The high interest level and frequent breaks in the story make this a fantastic book for a teacher to read aloud to students. It would also be a great babysitting tool for middle schoolers who watch younger children. The author gives a heads up to the reader every time something bloody is about to happen, warning little ones to cover their ears or leave the room. Of course, this ensures that everyone will remain glued to their seats, waiting to hear the "good parts"....

Dawn Butcher, 7-12 Library Media SpecialistThe Graveyard BookThe Lightning Thief (Movie Tie-in Edition) (Percy Jackson and the Olympians)The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 2)The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 3)The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 4)The Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book Five: Last Olympian

I love fairy tales, folk tales, and good old fashioned story telling. When I picked up this book, I immediately felt like I was sitting on someone's porch listening to them spin a yarn. I was instantly a kid again, relishing every gruesome bit and chuckling at the story teller's clever asides. This is a book that celebrates the joy of classic storytelling and is a great reminder that fairy tales were wonderful long before politically correct parents and Walt Disney took the "awesome" parts out.

This could have been titled "The further adventures of Hansel and Gretel" as it's these two that the author has plucked out of Grimms' collection. The brother and sister team go on adventures that involve taking a trip to Hell, encounters with warlocks, enchanted forests, and deadly dragons. They are beheaded, drowned in pits of liquid fire, and Hansel turns into a beast boy before getting shot by a Duke. Yes, it's graphic and the author's description of Hell and of the sinners writhing in their pools of fire gave me the willies. What tempers these aspects of the story is the fable like feel and the author's frequent and timely warnings that things are going to get worse, and it's perhaps time for the little children to leave the room. What child will read those warnings and not feel the delicious thrill of anticipation that marks a truly good tale?

Hansel and Gretel show courage, cleverness and above all devotion to each other in their search for grown ups that are good. They show young readers that no matter if your demons live in enchanted forests or if they sit two rows over at school (in the bully section), kids are far from helpless. I loved this book and recommend it not only for kids fifth grade and up, but for adults as well. Crack it open and re-discover the joy to be had in a dark tale. Recommended.

My fifth grader loved, loved this book. As perhaps the highest compliment, she has recommended it to all of her friends.

Didn't want to read this. Nope. Not a jot. Three reasons for that. First off, the title. I've said it about twenty times since reading it and every time I can't quite get it right (derivations have included "Something Dark and Grimm", "A Grimm Tale", and "Something Grimm"). Second, the jacket of the hardcover edition of this book isn't particularly new. Silhouettes against a blue background. Ho hum. Third, I couldn't believe that I was dealing with yet ANOTHER middle grade novel adapting fairy tales in new ways. After a while the The Sisters Grimm / The Grimm Legacy titles out there begin to meld together. From The Goose Girl to Into the Wild to Sisters Red I sometimes feel as if I am a little tired of fairy tales. I guess it takes a book like A Tale Dark and Grimm to wake me out of this funk. To my surprise, Gidwitz's debut is unlike anything I've ever encountered before. I've never seen a book meld the snarky narrator of something like a Lemony Snicket title so seamlessly with the original tone and telling of the original Grimm fairy tales. And not the sweet tales either. This is a book that isn't afraid to get to the root of a good story. The fact that it unearths some of the more frightening ones along the way just happens to be a bonus.

We all know some of the better known Grimm fairy tales out there like "Rapunzel" or "Cinderella". Heck, we probably even know some of their original story elements (chopping of heels and toes, getting blinded by thorns, etc.). The Grimm tales were just that. Grim. Now imagine finding yourself living them. Prince Hansel and Princess Gretel are born in one lesser known Grimm fairy tales, "Faithful Johannes" and when they discover that their mom and dad are potentially unhinged they set off to make their way in the world and find some decent parents. In doing so they wander through a series of little known tales like "The Devil With the Three Golden Hairs" and "The Seven Ravens". Unfortunately, while doing so they have a tendency to lose digits, lose their humanity, lose their lives (almost), and find that sometimes the fastest way to end your travels to go back to where you started.

There are times in a children's librarian's life when it is very useful to own the third edition of The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm as translated by Jack Zipes (who, by the way, blurbed this book). You just never know when you might need such a book. In this particular case I decided to inspect the stories Gidwitz appropriated to see exactly how closely they adhered to the originals. I was not disappointed. "Faithful Johannes"? Dead on, including the whole kidnapping the mom bit. "The Devil With the Three Golden Hairs"? At points, nearly word for word. He's often faithful, but sometimes I wondered if Gidwitz was calling upon versions of tales even older than the Grimm's. The fact that the witch in the story "Hansel and Gretel" isn't a witch at all but a baker feels like an earlier version of the story. I began to wish that Gidwitz would mention what his sources were when writing this tale. Because even if the baker idea was his own, it feels incredibly authentic.

Gidwitz, I should note, may seem to be adapting the Grimm tales in all their full gore, but he does make a couple alterations here and there. There are the obvious changes that have to be there for one tale to meld into another. The seven ravens are changed to the seven swallows since there are already three ravens of vast importance in this book, and any more would get confusing. And then there are the original elements that still aren't quite appropriate for a middle grade novel. For example, in A Tale Dark and Grimm Johannes is instructed to bite the queen's lip. In the original story, it's her right breast. Ew. A good change then.

I was most intrigued when Gidwitz was at his most original. The story "Brother and Sister" seemingly has little to do with the original tale except that a boy and a girl are living on their own in a forest and the brother is turned into a wild beast. The story "A Smile As Red As Blood" seems closest to "The Robber Bridegroom", complete with the telltale finger. It might be mixed with another story as well, though. The detail about killing warlocks by boiling them in oil with poisonous snakes felt a little too authentic. After reading for a while, you begin to find you cannot separate Gidwitz's writing from that of the Grimms. At the beginning of the book they are distinct and separate. The Grimms are almost word for word and Gidwitz just throws in a little snarky commentary. Then as the book progresses, more and more of Gidwitz seeps in so that by the end it's impossible to say what is and isn't authentic Grimm. Gidwitz's technique will probably encourage kids to locate their own original Grimm tales. I recommend they lay their hands on Grimm's Grimmest complete with beautifully bloody illustrations by Tracy Dockray (best known for re-illustrating those adorable "Ramona" books).

As for the violence, you can't say Gidwitz doesn't warn you. Indeed, before every gross, disgusting, or horrific passage (all authentically Grimm) he is careful to tell the reader things like, "Warning: this next bit is kind of gross" and "No little children around, right?" These stories have been around since long before the Grimms collected them during the early 19th century. Kids loved 'em in the past and from what I hear, kids today just eat this newest book up as well. The gore doesn't get to them. It's the parents who can't take it. For a certain kind of child, this book will be the answer to their painless, bloodless, suburban lives. They'll get sucked into this book early on and keep reading and reading until before they know it they've just finished a story with great writing and a bold theme. And when you talk it up to them you need only say one thing: "This book makes Goosebumps and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark look like pat-a-cake nursery rhymes."

One does wonder if the narrator in this book isn't a bit on the nose too often, though. The idea is to show not tell, but Gidwitz indulges in a fair amount of telling. His narrator is prone to saying things like, "Parents are supposed to help their children to grow wise and healthy and strong," and "... Once Upon a Time, no grown-up was perfect. You, my dear reader, have certainly learned that by now." He's more than intrusive. He's telling you the point of some of these tales, and adding observations of his own along the way. Some folks will be driven batty by this technique. Yet for me, the technique was so obvious from the start that I accepted it. I didn't mind being told what one thing might mean or another. When you're dealing with tales as upfront and brassy as the Grimm tales, a little contemporary commentary is more than welcome. This is a book for kids, after all.

Like a lot of middle grade novels out this year (Cosmic, One Crazy Summer, etc.), A Tale Dark and Grimm is about parents and parenting. Says the narrator at one point, "It will happen to you, Dear Reader, at some point in your life. You will face a moment very much like the one Hansel and Gretel are facing right now. In this moment, you will look at your parents and realize that - no matter what it sounds like they are saying - they are actually asking you for forgiveness." What is forgiveness, for that matter? How do you forgive people when they've done terrible things to you? Is there a point where you can let go, and is there harm in holding on to your anger? And how on earth do you take seven or more incredibly violent Grimm fairy tales and turn them into a meaningful story about finding home, finding yourself, and finding what it means to be forgiving? That Gidwitz attempted it in the first place is bizarre. That he succeeds is baffling. The good kind of baffling. With enough blood and guts to satisfy even the most craven of readers, this is the rare horror tale for kids that also happens to have a lot of literary merit as well. The combination crops up in young adult literature all the time, but not so much on the kid side of things. Such books are rarities. This book, a gem. A new idea for some very old literature.

For ages 9-12.

For what it's worth - If you've read the original Grimm tales you might agree that they can be dense, obscure, and downright tedious. On the other hand, the popular Grimm lite tales often lack punch and can be very unsatisfying.

That's where this book comes in. The author has strung a number of well known and not so well known tales into a single narrative arc, which actually makes all of the tales more interesting. The author has also taken on the role of commentator, which can become a bit distracting if not actually off-putting, but which also serves to educate the reader about the Grimm tales and how and why they work.

Bottom line - if you are a Grimm purist you probably aren't going to care for this treatment. On the other hand, if you think a young reader should be familiar with the Grimm tales, or if just want a change of pace from the usual ya fantasy fare, this could be for you.

Normally I have to struggle with my 10-year-old son to read anything other than the sports scores, but this book he read in two days! Not only that, he would talk about it with me in the mornings (yes, actually converse!). I recommended it to him after reading it myself. Hands down, one of the best children's books I've read in a long, long time. I laughed out loud repeatedly and couldn't wait to pick it up again after an interruption (darn dinner!) Hellishly hilarious with just enough "ick" factor to make it grossly cool.

My eight-year-old daughter loves this book! This is not a kid who naturally loves to read, so I'm thrilled. She keeps telling me how exciting the book is, and even reads it out loud to me, which is very unusual for her. What I've heard her read has impressed me. The book seems well-written and full of feeling, and while not holding back on the sadness, it doesn't introduce gratuitous violence and gore. It respects its young readers as people who can face up to the less positive aspects of life and see the beauty in a less-than-happy ending. It seems in these respects to preserve what it is that has made these tales immortal.