Negative Positive
Title: True to the original -- but creepy
Review: The back of the book explains that this retelling of the Hansel & Gretel story is consistent with an early version of the same first published by the Brothers Grimm. I have no doubt that this is true. The pictures are beautiful, and the story engaging. But this is not the version of the story where the old crone is a witch who turns children into gingerbread. Instead Hansel and Gretel, abandoned by their parents, find the house of the old crone in the middle of the woods. The old lady has plans to cook Hansel for dinner. Near the end of the book, Gretel pushes the old lady into the hot oven, locks the door and listens to the old lady's screams until the old lady is reduced to ashes. Then Hansel and Gretel loot her stuff. In the shadow of 20th century Germany, I found the story just plain creepy, and I put the book in a pile of things going to charity just to get it out of my house.
Is the review positive or negative? 