Gretel and Hansel - Bee Waeland - ★★.¾

AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: Bee Waeland

GENRE: Children's Picture Book.

RATING: 2.75 stars.

Literally, a “picture book”. A wordless retelling of ‘Hansel and Gretel.’

You might have heard the German fairy tale of ‘Hansel and Gretel.’ This is a retold version of the same, where the lead pair is depicted as selfish and greedy kids who overstep a witch’s hospitality and destroy her home. After eating all the desserts, Hansel and Gretel get their just desserts.

I liked how the book highlights that Hansel and Gretel too were in the wrong, something the original classic conveniently brushes aside. I also enjoyed the ending of the story, somewhat different from that of the fairy tale. I loved the witch’s black cat as well – she was cool!

So far, so good.

The problem is that the whole story comes to us only in pictures. There’s not a single word in the book! (Well, except in the initial copyright info pages.) Of course, the book doesn’t try to hide this fact. It’s my fault for assuming it would be in the usual style. I missed out on one key phrase in the blurb: “told without words”. TBH, I didn’t even reach that line. I just read the introductory line that said, ‘A graphic retelling of the fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel"’, and jumped to get the book.

(Note to self: Read the whole blurb in future!)

My query is: How will a wordless story work as a retelling if kids don’t know the original? It might work as a basic standalone picture book as the illustrations give some clue about what’s happening. But if it is marketed as a ‘retelling’, it needs to work as a ‘retelling’, which means children better know the original as well. It cant be left to adults to update kids on the original story, especially considering the age group we are talking about.

Of course, there are a couple of advantages to this style too. Kid aren’t dependent on adults to “read the book”. They might use their own imagination to fill in the blanks. But if so, ‘Hansel and Gretel’ is too complicated a story to be “read” only through pictures.

The art style is quite different, The illustrations are like cut-outs of shapes strung together. It makes for a different feel, with the bright colours and bold shapes adding a great learning opportunity.

The book is meant for kids aged 3-5. I think it might work for the younger segment, maybe kids aged 1-3, who will enjoy a book based on pictures. But I would want kids aged 4+ to read books with at least a few words. Maybe this will work better in schools as an imaginative ‘guess-the-story’ game. Not my favourite, though.

My thanks to Orca Book Publishers and NetGalley for the DRC of “Gretel and Hansel”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.