Hansel and Gretel and Other Stories by the Brothers Grimm - Illustrated by Kay Nielsen

by Jacob Grimm, Kay Nielsen (Illustrations)

Pook Press celebrates the great Golden Age of Illustration in children's literature. Many of the earliest children's books, particularly those dating back to the 1850s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Pook Press are working to republish these classic works in affordable, high quality, colour editions, using the original text and artwork so these works can delight another generation of children. Kay Nielsen (1886-1957) was a Danish illustrator of the golden age of illustration. He was influenced by Japanese art and the Swedish fairy tale illustrator John Bauer and contributed to the Art Nouveau movement. His illustrations are bold, and vibrant - often reproduced by a 4-colour process which set him apart from his contemporaries who typically used a 3-colour process. His art is characterised by long, swooping lines, open spaces and a certain macabre quality and his ephemeral illustrations are intricately inventive, flirting with implausibility. The shift in taste from fantasy to realism after WWII meant that Nielsen did not retain his pre-war popularity. However, interest in his exquisite illustrations has since been revived, and they now command a high price in today's art world.

Genres: Fairy Tales, Childrens, Classics

310 pages, Paperback

Published May 2, 2012

About the author

German philologist and folklorist Jakob Ludwig Karl Grimm in 1822 formulated Grimm's Law, the basis for much of modern comparative linguistics. With his brother Wilhelm Karl Grimm (1786-1859), he collected Germanic folk tales and published them as Grimm's Fairy Tales (1812-1815).

Indo-European stop consonants, represented in Germanic, underwent the regular changes that Grimm's Law describes; this law essentially states that Indo-European p shifted to Germanic f, t shifted to th, and k shifted to h. Indo-European b shifted to Germanic p, d shifted to t, and g shifted to k. Indo-European bh shifted to Germanic b, dh shifted to d, and gh shifted to g.

This jurist and mythologist also authored the monumental German Dictionary and his Deutsche Mythologie .

Adapted from Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Anthony Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: This is the classic tale about a brother and sister who find themselves lost in the woods,when they stumble upon a house made of gingerbread. Naturally the kids take to the house,seeing as how they are lost and hungry. The house is owned by an evil old woman, who lures kids into her house for the sole purpose of capturing them,fattening them up,and then eating them. (Spoiler Alert!) Hansel and Gretel outsmart the evil old woman and escape after killing her.

Response: The Grimm Brothers version goes into detail about why Hansel and Gretel were in the woods alone and is a story with a happy ending. However,the story of kids who are sent into the woods to die,because there stepmother does not want to afford to take care of them is a lot more disturbing than the versions that were told to me as a child. I did notice that this story is much like other tales by the Brothers Grimm and had a dark and somewhat Gothic nature. I read in our text,'Children's Books in Children's Hands' that in the 1600's much of the literature was geared towards adults. There was no market or industry for children's literature because school was not mandated by society, as much as, farming and working for one's family. These stories were not meant to be read by or to children, when they were originally written. As society and the schooling of our kids evolved,so did versions of much of the literature,particularly the tales of the Brothers Grimm.

Classroom Connection: I would have my kids construct gingerbread houses,just like the one described in story. This normally a good classroom activity for Christmas,but given the subject matter of 'Hansel and Gretel' I feel it's good for adding interest level to the story.

Text complexity and CCSS range": Lexile measure is 610L according to lexile.com and scholastic.com has a grade level equivalent of 4.2,along with an interest level of Kindergarten.

[Jaimie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe it was just the poor print quality, but I wasn't that impressed by this collection. There weren't even that many illustrations (even though the selling point is Nielsen's artwork), and those that were included do not seem up to Nielsen's quality. It may be earlier (and therefore less well-developed) work than the pieces that I've seen previously, but that doesn't make it any less disappointing.

[Puck Zara Smink · Rating 4 out of 5]

I obviously understand that this version doesn’t contain every fairy tale by the brothers Grimm, but this version still left me a bit sad, since only two of my favourite fairy tales were in this version. however I obviously can’t blame the book for this, so I’m just going to reread the complete tales again soon :)

[Randie D. Camp, M.S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this classic fairy tale in the Classics of Children’s Literature (6th Edition) by John W. Griffith and Charles H. Frey. Published by Pearson in Upper Saddle River, NJ in 2005.

[Reading Through the Lists · Rating 3 out of 5]

None of these tales are new to me, and I skipped the ones I’ve read many times before. But the odd and unfamiliar stories are often the most enjoyable and Kay Nielsen’s illustrations are, of course, gorgeous.

3 stars.

[Emma Zayed · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was pretty good.

[Tess van Brummelen]

"Golden Age of Illustration artist Kay Nielsen — whose work was featured in the “Ave Maria” and “Night on the Bare Mountain” sequences of Disney’s Fantasia — captivates readers with his delicate, wispy style. The Danish artist’s mystical, Euro-style illustrations were featured in Hansel and Gretel, and Other Stories by the Brothers Grimm."

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[Bobby Jandrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel. The parallels in the story are interesting. The fire used to keep the children warm in the woods versus the fire used by the witch in attempting to kill Gretel, ultimately being her way towards death. The gleaming pebbles representing a "monetary" value by helping the children find their way home. I definitely am interested to know if other readers believed that the stepmother was in fact the witch in the story.

[Jen Roark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hansel and Gretel is a fairy tale that is based on the story of the two kids cleverly averting the attempts of a cannibalistic witch. This book is a good story to read to possibly second graders. It is pretty good to have in the classroom because it is so highly referenced in the media. It is a good story to have read.

[Nadia Fadhillah · Rating 1 out of 5]

sebenarnya sederhana, namun harusnya aku tahu makna mendalam dari sebuah legenda. sayangnya aku kurang pinter. (>_<)

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much different than the version I remember but still a great story. The moral seems to be aimed more at parents than children.

[Kera Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

got to love Hansel and Grethel :]

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an awesome "horror" fairytale. I enjoyed this one. I like this version better than the Disney version.

[Marquise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Editon with illustrations by Arthur Rackham, pretty good one.

[Rmsooon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read it its required before whenever after