A poor woodcutter's children, lost in the forest, come upon a house made of bread, cakes, and candy, occupied by a wicked witch who likes to have children for dinner.

Independent Reading Level: Grades 4-6
Awards: Randolph Caldecott Medal (2010)

Traditional Lit - Folktale (Ages 9+) ( )

Hansel and Gretel are a brother and sister who wander in the woods to find strawberries to eat. They eat too many and fall asleep, finally waking to the smell of delicious food cooking in a house where a witch resides. The witch eats children. The children overcome the witch and cook her, and they rescue the other children who are being help captive.

I loved this story. The illustrations are colorful yet not distracting. I enjoyed there is a happy ending to it. The lesson is simple, but still important: Do not wander off into the woods and fall asleep in an unfamiliar territory because you never know what can happen. ( )

Oddly, the starving family doesn’t look very poor in the illustrations. They have a solid looking, well-furnished house in a lovely location near a forest. They could do a reverse mortgage and raise some cash. Apparently feudal Germany was crying out for some financial wizardry. A good loan originator could have saved these children, at least gotten this beleaguered family through a dry patch until the factory was hiring again. Of course, after a number of years, they would have to move out, but they would have needed to do that anyway.