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Hansel and Gretel: a beautiful illustrated version of the classic fairytale

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No wonder Gaiman is close friends with George R. R. Martin and so defensive of his pal. Both write people who eat like baby pigs and have no chins. Don't get me wrong, if you have (for whatever reason) never read a version of this fairy tale, this is the version you should go for. It's dark, it's interesting, it's beautiful – the words as well as the haunting art that's a careful study of darkness and light. The Brothers Grimm wrote the original fairy tale. Can you find out what other stories they wrote? If you could interview them today, what questions would you like to ask them? Best-selling author Neil Gaiman and fine artist Lorenzo Mattotti join forces to create Hansel & Gretel, a stunning book that’s at once as familiar as a dream and as evocative as a nightmare. Mattotti’s sweeping ink illustrations capture the terror and longing found in the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale. Gaiman crafts an original text filled with his signature wit and pathos that is sure to become a favorite of readers everywhere, young and old. Hansel & Gretel is wholly enthralling from cover to cover. It is also available as a deluxe edition— a lavish large-format volume with a die-cut cover, and dog knows die-cut treats are impossible to resist.

Hansel and Gretel By Neil Gaiman | New | 9781662665042

There's so much to sink your teeth into, not to mention the huge library of supporting resources for each new text type. Twist the text and make the same old stories take your learning further. Example guided reading questions for the story include: Look at the different shapes in the illustrations. How many squares / rectangles / circles (etc) can you find? Enjoy the traditional fairy tale 'Hansel and Gretel' in PowerPoint format, alongside directed active listening questions aimed at lower Key Stage 2 children. Questions focus on retrieval, inference and prediction skills, as well as discussing vocabulary choices and figurative language. I wasn't a huge fan of the art, and when you aren't a fan of the art for an illustrated novel, the whole thing just falls flat. I've always wondered why most fairytales are so dark in nature, but after viewing an interview with Neil Gaiman about Hansel and Gretel, I have a new perspective:

The old woman in the house is ‘as old as the hills’. Can you think of other similes to describe her / the other characters in the story?

Hansel and Gretel by Neil Gaiman Review of the Day: Hansel and Gretel by Neil Gaiman

Use the speech within the text to create a play script. Could you perform this with some friends or use puppets? Be warned, Gaiman doesn't really rework Hansel and Gretel like he did with Sleeping Beauty, he just enlarges on it, adding minor changes along the way. Oddly I enjoyed this story more than any other by Gaiman, which probably tells you more about how much I like, or dislike, his work than anything else. Can you create some puppets of the main characters in the story and use these to retell it to an audience? I read this because Neil Gaiman adapted the tale the Grimm Brothers got from 12-year-old Dortchen when they were collecting German folk tales. Gaiman I already know is equally successful with children and adult stories, and he works pretty well in the picture book/graphic novel framework, too, of course! This particular version was inspired by the illustrations Lorenzo Mattotti did as part of an exhibit TOON Books' Francoise Mouly curated to celebrate the Metropolitan Opera's 2007 staging of the story. I was interested in it because Gaiman has spoken about the ways the Grimm Tales have gotten cleaned up over the years, lightened so as not to frighten the wee babes. And Gaiman does not like this turn to remove the grimness from Grimm. He is, after all, the author of The Graveyard Book, Coraline and The Ocean at the End of the Lane. He is a champion of horror for the young in all its delicious, jaw-dropping gory details.Master storyteller Gaiman plumbs the dark depths of Hansel and Gretel… Italian illustrator Mattotti contributes elegant b&w ink spreads that alternate with spreads of text. His artistry flows from the movement of his brush and the play of light and shadow.”— Publishers Weekly , starred review This story has been ‘retold’ by Jane Ray. What does this mean? Can you find other stories that have been retold?

Hansel and Gretel: a beautiful illustrated version of the

Maybe I wouldn't be so disappointed if I hadn't read The Sleeper and the Spindle a few weeks ago, that was everything a retelling should be. It brought something new to a already well known story while still being beautifully told and illustrated. Maybe it's unfair to compare the two but as someone who grew up on Grimm's fairy tales, I expected more than the same story with slightly different words, especially considering who wrote them this time. Master storyteller Gaiman plumbs the dark depths of Hansel and Gretel... Italian illustrator Mattotti contributes elegant b&w ink spreads that alternate with spreads of text. His artistry flows from the movement of his brush and the play of light and shadow. ... Gaiman makes the story's horrors feel very real and very human, and Mattotti's artwork is genuinely chilling. - Publishers Weekly , starred review Newbery Medal–winner Neil Gaiman retells Hansel and Gretel as a story of parents plotting a murder by neglect, with full-spread India ink compositions by Lorenzo Mattotti as dark and terrifying as his forest setting. … Gaiman’s text is a study in minimalism, yet he includes every salient detail… A perfectly frightful treat.”— Shelf Awareness ,starred review Gaiman did a splendid job when he retold Sleeping Beauty ( The Sleeper and the Spindle) so I was excited at the idea of another classic being twisted by his mind. I love Gaiman’s and Mattotti’s Hansel & Gretel. The writing is rich. (“They went so deep into the old forest that the sunlight was stained green by the leaves.”) And the art is striking. I have never seen a more chill-inducing rendition of the witch’s gingerbread cottage. I swear it looks like there’s a skull atop it.”— Julie Danielson, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

About the contributors

Grimms' Hansel and Gretel was published in 1812. Twelve year old Dorothea Wild, known as Dortchen, was the source of the tale. She later became Mrs Wilhelm Grimm in 1825. This version of Hansel & Gretel by Neil Gaiman has to be one of my favorites. I loved that it stays close to the original Grimm version and preserves the chilling details... In the years that followed, Hansel and Gretel each married well, and the people who went to their weddings ate so much fine food that their belts burst and the fat from the meat ran down their chins, while the pale moon looked down kindly on them all.” Carry out role-play activities linked to the story, e.g. hot seating / interviewing characters from the story. How are they feeling at particular points, or ‘Conscience Corridor’ activities – should Hansel and Gretel go into the gingerbread house?

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