Stephen King is taking on the “Hansel and Gretel” fairy tale with some help from the late Maurice Sendak.
HarperCollins will publish Hansel and Gretel, a reimagining of the famous story by the Brothers Grimm, in the fall. The picture book will be written by King, the horror master known for his rather kid-unfriendly novels, and contain illustrations by Sendak, the legendary artist behind Where the Wild Things Are.
Sendak’s illustrations originated as set and costume designs for a production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera Hansel and Gretel in 1997. In the book, HarperCollins says, “King brings his signature voice to the classic fairy tale of two brave children lost in an eerie and dangerous forest” while “Sendak’s hauntingly beautiful illustrations on every page draw readers into the deliciously daring world of Hansel and Gretel.”
King said in a statement, “Two of [Sendak’s] pictures in particular spoke to me: One was of the wicked witch on her broom with a bag of kidnapped children riding behind her; the other was of the infamous candy house becoming a terrible face.…To me, it was the essence of this story and, really, all fairy tales: a sunny exterior, a dark and terrible center, brave and resourceful children. In a way, I have been writing about kids like Hansel and Gretel for much of my life.”
Hansel and Gretel is scheduled for publication on Sept. 2.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer
