We’re going to be gingerbreading for the remainder of the week. If you aren’t keen on gingerbread, well, despair all ye who enter here. (Also there is something not right with you. I’m only a little judgmental on the topic. I LOVE GINGERBREAD.)
The ultimate gingerbread house is in ‘Hansel and Gretel’. RIGHT?? And there’s a particularly great depiction of the witch’s gingerbread house in this version. Ok here’s more funny story. I saw this in a used bookstore, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted it (I was having a crazy moment) so I hid it behind several other books on the same shelf and hoped it would be there when I came back. Did I not have my wallet? Had I gone insane? Did I need to go to the bathroom? I cannot for the life of me remember why there was all this book hiding going on and why I just didn’t get it immediately. But I did get it because here it is.
I don’t even remember going back to get it. I swear I’m not lying. Maybe aliens put me under and erased my memory and then bought me the book.



There’s like a million versions of every fairy tale, but some stand out. Hansel and Gretel, to me, is a SCARIER THAN CRAP STORY. Roasting children, eating them, being abandoned to die alone in the woods…this is a scary scary story, when boiled down to the fundamentals. I really get freaked out by this story even as an adult.
But here’s what I love about the Anglund book. This version has a good amount of text, so slightly older kids will appreciate it. The art is really really engaging and fairy tale-esque, without being too dark. I think the art style tempers the dark themes, which for this fairy tale, I’m telling you, I just think the witch is SO SCARY. Don’t you think? I needed a version like this. Interesting, fun, true to the story, but without making you pee in your pants. Am I the only one terrified by the witch? It’s all the oven business.



As usual, I seriously have no idea what I'm saying today. This is a fabulous version of a classic fairy tale, and if you are looking to have a permanent copy of Hansel and Gretel on your shelves, this is one of the best I've seen. The other one I feel strongly about is the version by Emma Chichester Clark and the adaptation by Cynthia Rylant/Jen Corace.
Witches scare me. Also aliens. I'll tell you guys later about an alien movie that had me afraid of telephone repairmen. I wish I were making this up, but no I really am like this.
It's funny timing that you posted this today because just last night I saw the trailer for "Hansel and Gretel- Witch Hunters" (I am not even kidding!) on tv and it was a) very scary and b) horrifyingly cheesy! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1428538/
ReplyDeleteOh I know ALL ABOUT that terrible-looking movie. I read this entertainment site and the theories about WHY Jeremy Renner is doing this movie are hilarious. Seriously, he must have had a moment of insanity. My only hope about it is that it's just hilariously and wonderfully bad, but I think it's just going to be....BAD.
DeleteGirls, let me just tell you that I want to grab Mr. Renner by the hair and have a little chat with him - how can someone with such great performances (loved him in "North Country", "The Town" and "The Hurt Locker") embark in something like that?? O_O
DeleteSeriously Patricia!!!!!!!!!!! Did you know that he's actually really $ savvy and has a whole side real estate business? Hey Jeremy Renner! Are you reading my blog?? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?
DeleteI want to write a whole other post about Jeremy Renner and this movie now. :)
DeleteI can't wait to read that post. :D
DeleteI could not agree with you more, sweetie - "Hansel and Gretel" ("João e Maria", here in Brazil) is the scariest story ever! The book looks really beautiful, though - I love the drawings!
ReplyDeletexx
Oh I love the art. That style was popular when I was growing up in the 80s and I'm always trying to find little bits of it for my kiddo. Great post.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you like it!! I think the art in this version is some of the best I've ever seen for this story...
DeleteOh my God! I absolutely LOVE Joan Walsh Anglund and I had no idea she had a version of Hansel and Gretel. WANT. Who cares if I don't have kids, right? I abso-freakin-lutely love gingerbread, too, so you have my blessing to go for it.
ReplyDeleteI have such strong feelings on gingerbread! Strong, strong feelings. I will be droning on and on and ON about my strong feelings for gingerbread tomorrow....
DeleteHansel and Gretel is one of our favorites! But then, you may have noticed that my family has this weird dark side, at least when it comes to kid entertainment. ;o) And it's the youngest who likes this story the most. The illustrations do look fabulous in this one!
ReplyDeleteThe kids don't usually see many commercials, but between football playoffs and the Golden Globe awards ("Look, girls! That blonde lady co-hosting the awards? That's the Might B!") we saw that Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunter trailer over and over again. And we would laugh every time we saw it. It looks so terrible. You should have see Big Sis roll her eyes. (She's such a teenager already.)
ha ha ha! my kid would have run out of the room. and then asked a million questions about it, which is what she does when something secretly scares her. Someday, the epic movie marathon spanning many states and several households will occur between out families, I just know it! :)
DeleteHeck, yeah!
DeleteOh, Anglund, how I love your mouth-less children. Especially when then appear in a book about eating candy.
ReplyDeleteOH I AM LAUGHING SO HARD right now, you have no idea, you are totally right!!!!!!!! how do they eat? where did their mouths go? the creep factor just went WAY WAY up, am I right?
DeleteTotally right.
DeleteI totally adore the illustrations! So cute! I agree that it is a dark story. My kid and his cousins are terrified by the movies (any versions!). But this book is so adorable... I must resist... to buy :P
ReplyDelete"resistance is futile", as Captain Jean Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise would say...;)
DeleteVery cool book! Love the artwork! Yes, the story is just freaky. Eating children and Gretel pushes the witch into the fire and kills her! That's serious!
ReplyDeleteof course, this is why I love fairy tales....all this weirdness in fantastical settings....:)
DeleteOh, Anglund! I love her work. I always hope to come across more of it at the thrift store. I've never seen this one! It's amazing. :)
ReplyDeleteI was stupefied when I found this! Couldn't believe my luck!
DeleteYou have ads now? Wow! Sorry I was all ready to comment and I got totally distracted by a White Collar ad...I think we missed a season though somewhere...Like you care about any of that... WHAT I WAS ACTUALLY GOING TO SAY: I personally think the worst part of the particular fairy tale is that it is their mother that wants to leave them in the woods in the original version...how horrible is that? I do have a problem with fairy tales mothers, the living ones are all awful and the good ones are all deceased...there is something wrong with that in my book. (hehehe 'in my book' that was even on purpose.)
ReplyDeletethat should say that WASNT even on purpose... it it was one purpose I wouldn't have said it was one purpose, I would have just hehehe'd... I'm sure you're thrilled I'm commenting again ;)
DeleteI AM THRILLED!!!!!!!!!!!!! MISSED YOU SO MUCH!
Deleteyes I have some google generated ads -- couldn't afford to miss on the $3 a month it gets me or some such silliness...:)
Julia is quite fed up with fairy tales moms. She hates that most always die. She's like, WHAT'S UP with all the dying mothers??!!