What is it?
Hansel and Gretel
Who wrote it?
Michael Morpurgo
Illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark
Illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark
Where can it be
found?
Bookshops/Libraries (individual story)
Adaptation?
Yes – To a degree
My thoughts in
exactly 10 words:
All the misfortune is caused by one single wicked witch.
Extended thoughts:
Michael Morpurgo, in his usual brilliant style of writing,
has fleshed out the bare bones versions of this story that are so common. In
doing so, he tied everything together, showing that all the ills that befall
this happy family are the doing of one jealous, powerful, wicked witch. She
decides she wants to be with the father, so turns his wife into a willow tree
and herself into a beautiful woman who tragically couldn’t save his wife from
drowning. Then she feigns weakness for long enough until the father thinks that
he is in love with her and marries her. When the children don’t call her
mother, or learn to love her, she decides they must be dealt with, but by the hand
of the father and so creates the famine which is the reason for leading them
into the forest. Morpurgo’s language has that beautiful old fashioned feel to
it, without once feeling dated: perfect for a fairy tale.
Emma Chichester Clark’s illustrations are my favourite of
her work. I just love her birds and the trees of the forest, particularly when
they’re bare, are exactly what you would want them to be.
Favourite Quote:
"Worse still, the wolves had begun to howl again, and he knew only
too well what they must be telling each other: Time to eat, time to kill. Time
to eat, time to kill."
Moral of the story in
my own words:
(This is tricky, while it’s a great story, there isn’t a
clear moral)
Stay away from evil, shape-shifting witches… ?
Find it on Goodreads
7/40
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