In the bloodiest and most terrifying story, Gretel falls in love with a handsome young man who lures her to his home in the woods where he daily hacks young women to pieces for dinner. The brother and sister are two of the unluckiest children ever, as they fall into the clutches of a succession of terrible grown-ups, from their father who cuts off their heads to the baker woman who wants to eat them, and even the devil himself. Many readers will take these warnings as a challenge to read on, and they will not be disappointed: This story of Hansel and Gretel brings the brother and sister alive in a way that few readers will have experienced.Instead of the oft-tried technique of expanding a single Grimms' fairy tale into a novel, Gidwitz takes several tales and weaves them together into one darkly humorous chapter book starring Hansel and Gretel. However, in his funny asides, Gidwitz walks the reader through the tough parts, instructing them to take any little children out of the room and pointing out parts you might want to skip if you're squeamish.

Parents need to know that when author/narrator Adam Gidwitz warns readers that Grimm's stories are violent and bloody, and that 'if such things bother you, we should probably stop right now,' he's not kidding: A Tale Dark and Grimm is violent and bloody. It's awful stuff, but the narrator's asides make it bearable, and it's totally worth the payoff, when - you guessed it - everyone lives happily ever after.ĭid you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide. Hansel turns into a beast and is hunted down and killed, then travels through hell and sees people being tortured. Gretel later cuts off her own finger and meets a man who steals the souls of young girls and turns their bodies into doves.

When that get fixed (through magic, of course), Hansel and Gretel encounter a mother who ate her children and wants to eat Hansel and Gretel. Thus, A Tale Dark and Grimm runs the gamut of classic fairy tale violence, starting with Hansel and Gretel's parents cutting their heads off. As Gidwitz explains in one of his comments about the nature of fairy tales, it's only by going through the dark that one can fully appreciate the light.

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