Hansel and Gretel

This splendidly chilling variation of the Brothers Grimm story is built around costume and set designs that late Caldecott Medalist Sendak produced for a Humperdinck opera. Rather than reframing or reimagining the classic tale, novelist King--who, per an introductory note, was drawn to images including the candy house shifting into a human face with a long, pink tongue--digs into the story for new possibilities. Though drought and famine threaten the pale-skinned family that lives at the edge of a dark wood, Hansel and Gretel's wicked stepmother perpetrates distinctive evils as she lies about the family's exhausted stores while hiding away "half a ham and a joint of beef" and persuading the children's father to leave them to the wolves ("Better a quick death in the jaws of an animal than slow starvation in the jaws of circumstance"). Dark, receding forest scenery frames the text, luring readers deeper into menace; cramped black lines imagine knobbly forest roots and branches that suggest sinew and bone. When the children stumble upon the candy house and the witch invites them in, King's grotesquerie conveys the home's transformation: "Once they were asleep, the pleasant aromas became the smells of rotting fruits and vegetables, the walls started dripping with slime...." While the narrative's characterizations and diction hew to tradition ("Nibble, nibble, little mouse, who is nibbling at my house?"), its horrors land with fresh force in an epic retelling that suits the illustrations' eerie magnificence. Ages 6--up. Author's agent: Liz Darhansoff, Darhansoff & Verrill. (Sept.)

Existing artwork from an artistic giant inspires a fairy-tale reimagination by a master of the horror genre. In King's interpretation of a classic Brothers Grimm story, which accompanies set and costume designs that the late Sendak created for a 1997 production of Engelbert Humperdinck's opera, siblings Hansel and Gretel survive abandonment in the woods and an evil witch's plot to gobble them up before finding their "happily ever after" alongside their father. Prose with the reassuring cadence of an old-timey tale, paired with Sendak's instantly recognizable artwork, will lull readers before capitalizing on these creators' knack for injecting darkness into seemingly safe spaces. Gaping faces loom in crevices of rocks and trees, and a gloomy palette of muted greens and ocher amplify the story's foreboding tone, while King never sugarcoats the peach-skinned children's peril. Branches with "clutching fingers" hide "the awful enchanted house" of a "child-stealing witch," all portrayed in an eclectic mix of spot and full-bleed images. Featuring insults that might strike some as harsh ("idiot," "fool"), the lengthy, dense text may try young readers' patience, and the often overwhelmingly ominous mood feels more pitched to adults--particularly those familiar with King and Sendak--but an introduction acknowledges grandparents as a likely audience, and nostalgia may prompt leniency over an occasional disconnect between words and art. Menacing and most likely to appeal to established fans of its co-creators.(Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.