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

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The brothers stumble upon the house of an ogre who vows to kill and eat them, but Hop-o'-My-Thumb tricks him into slitting his daughters' throats instead (by swapping their caps). Can you create some puppets of the main characters in the story and use these to retell it to an audience?

Hansel and Gretel - Bloomsbury Publishing

Gaiman's alternating spreads in this deluxe hardback TOON Graphics edition are framed sweetly by little innocent floral arrangements, which contrast sharply with Mattotti's very (sometimes overly, for me) dark illustrations on his one facing pages. Brother and sister get dumped in the woods, trail of breadcrumbs (boy, who’da thunk that plan wouldn’t work! In fact the only difference I could spot was that he omitted any mention of a witch - here she’s just your run-of-the-mill crazy old woman who lives in a house made of sweets and eats children.A visually stunning reimagining of the classic fairy tale Hansel and Gretel by master storyteller Neil Gaiman, beautifully illustrated by the award-winning Lorenzo Mattotti The enduring story of the children, the breadcrumb trail and the gingerbread house is brought to life by master storyteller, Neil Gaiman. It's a nice addition to the bookshelf of a child who's never heard this story before, but otherwise, you're not at all missing out by skipping this one, even as a Gaiman completist.

Hansel and Gretel: A TOON Graphic by Neil Gaiman | Goodreads Hansel and Gretel: A TOON Graphic by Neil Gaiman | Goodreads

Neil Gaiman and Lorenzo Mattotti both remember the horror and fascination with which they read the Grimm Brothers' "Hansel and Gretel. Questions focus on retrieval, inference and prediction skills, as well as discussing vocabulary choices and figurative language. Gaiman crafts an original text filled with his signature wit and pathos that is sure to become a favourite of readers everywhere, young and old.As much as I like the tale, the art, and the prose itself, I can't help but be disappointed, especially after reading The Sleeper and the Spindle not so long ago. And when Hansel and Gretel, the children in question, spotted that gingerbread cottage with its barley sugar windows and hard candy decorations the rest, as they say, was history. Sie bestehen größtenteils aus schwarz-weißem Gewische, nur in einem kleinen Ausschnitt wird das Erzählte illustriert.

Hansel and Gretel by Neil Gaiman, Lorenzo Mattotti - Waterstones Hansel and Gretel by Neil Gaiman, Lorenzo Mattotti - Waterstones

I think I would gave enjoyed it more if the story had just been darker or had something else to give it that extra spark - I did enjoy it but it wasn't amazing. 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 have no staff, no interns, not even an assistant — a thoroughly one-woman labor of love that is also my life and my livelihood.I felt they were incongruous and would've been better placed in art book or a gallery wall where I could've appreciated them more. Mattotti masterfully and subtly uses negative space so each image isn’t immediately noticeable, like the most menacing game of hide-and-seek, and the abrupt oscillation between the clean, white pages of words and the silent, chilling dusky pictures is striking… Gaiman’s fans and lovers of visual storytelling will devour this eerie version of a classic. Who better to retell the Brothers Grimm's greatest, and perhaps darkest, fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel?