Monday, March 19, 2012

A Tale Dark & Grimm


        Being the fairy tale fan that I am, I was excited to start this book.  I have always been excited by retellings of fairy tales, and when a professor read a passage of this book during a children’s literature class, I knew I needed to read it.
This book follows Hansel and Gretel through their own story, then out into other tales in the world of Grimm.  Adam Gidwitz adds new storyline whenever it is called for, while still keeping well-known stories similar enough to be recognizable.
The narrator in this book is very vocal and will actually stop you to interject a point or a warning.  I found that this keeps the story interesting and moving along quickly.  The narrator feels like he’s always on the side of the reader, rooting for them or warning them when something “frightening” is about to happen.  I mostly liked this, but found that sometimes it gave some of the suspense away.
Although the narrator warns you about “scary” occurrences in this book, I doubt that children would have a problem reading it.  In my experience, I have found that children find things scary that you don’t expect, and usually find scary or gross things cool.
I loved this book because it had recognizable stories from beloved fairytales, but also told a story all its own.  Hansel and Gretel’s characters were well developed, and I found myself rooting for them and hurting for them.
I loved this book and would highly recommend it.


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