
Author: Adam Gidwitz.
Pages: 252.
Published: November 11th 2010.
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile.
Serie: part one of ‘A tale dark and Grimm.’
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.
Rating:
I absolute adore and love this book. It was so good and well written. Before I knew it, I finished it and I only wanted to read more. This is the story of Hansel and Gretel. Not the story we always get told, no, this is 'the real story'.
The king dies and his son becomes the new King. He gets advise from Johannes. Everybody trusts this man and he’s been alive for a very long time. After seeing the portrait of a beautiful, but sad woman, the boy wants to find her and marry her. She will make the perfect queen. Johannes warns him, because there is one big problem. The woman has been married to a lot of men, but they always die soon after the wedding. The boy is crazy in love and doesn’t listen to the advise, so they go on their journey.
During the travel, Johannes hears the conversation of three birds. They tell him a story about the king. There will be three situations where the King will die, unless someone takes care of it. If the king will live after those attempts, he will be save and the curse will be lifted. He can't tell anyone about it, otherwise he will turn to stone.
Johannes is such a loyal man, that he takes care of it. The king marries the girl, but they see Johannes as some kind of traitor. Johannes is scented to death, so he tells them everything and he turns into stone. The king feels so bad about it; he's full of grieve. One day, he is told that there's a way to return Johannes. He must cut of the heads of his two children, Hansel and Gretel, and he must smudge the blood on Johannes statue. The king obeys and Johannes, Hansel and Gretel comes back to live.
The two children are shocked; what kind of father and mother would sacrifice their children like that? They run away. After that, they get into a lot of trouble, but they always find a way to survive it. In the end, they return to their house and it's a happy ending. You must find out for yourself what adventures they find during their wandering. I thought the story was clever told and I liked that you get to now so many different things about Hansel and Gretel. It's not just the regular story (with the witch), but there's so much more. I loved everything about it. Hansel and Gretel are very nice characters.
If you want an original retelling of a not-so-popular fairytale? Than this is the one! And the second book comes out in September :) I’m looking forward to it!