Hansel and Gretel

Maurice Sendak is one of the greatest illustrators of children’s books. He would be famous just for his illustrations of Where the Wild Things Are and Little Bear alone. He is the most honored writer/illustrator with every conceivable award and medal. The rewriter of this fairy story is Stephen King, who has sold over 350 million books and is one of the most prolific and beloved of our storytellers. Separately, they are an entire industry. So put them together and what could go wrong?

The faded illustrations in this edition were designed for an opera of Hansel and Gretel which had been commissioned to Sendak. I would refer the reader to the Ripa Lesser/Paul O. Selinsky Hansel and Gretel for the original text and beautiful illustration. While Stephen King has made minimal changes to the story, it failed to delight. I’m sure this is a publishing juggernaut, but not for me.