Hansel and Gretel

The text of this story is a translation of the 1857 edition of the Grimms’ version, with an additional horrific flourish as the burning witch ‘screeches’ her way towards death. Anastasiya Archipova’s half and full page watercolours are vivid and realistic, but she refrains from any graphic gaudiness, emphasising instead the human elements of the tale: the guilt and desperation of the father as his will is worn down by his famished-looking wife, the vulnerability of the children as their parents lead them by the hand (their other hands clasped) into the depths of the forest, their relief and wonder as they gaze upon the edible house, and the sinister, kindly gaze of a rather benign-looking witch. The result is a handsome book which makes the ugliness of the events leading up to the climax seem all too naturalistic.

I would highly recommend this striking new version of an inexhaustibly interesting story.