Hansel and Gretel

Hansel and Gretel

Retold and Illustrated: James Marshall
Genre: Traditional Literature
Grades: 2-5
Awards: None

Hansel and Gretel follows two young children of a poor woodcutter. There has been a famine in their land and food was hard to access. The woodcutter's wife was worried about the famine and also believed that Hansel and Gretel were eating everything. The wife came up with a plan to take their children into the woods and leave them there with only a piece of bread to survive, but the father did not like this idea. As they were walking into the woods, Hansel laid white rocks with the path they were taking, so they can retrace their steps back home. Once Hansel and Gretel returned home, their mother was surprised to see them, but she somehow convinced them again to follow her into the woods. This time, Hansel and Gretel were not able to trace their way back home and ended up at a witches, sugary house. The witch captured Hansel and tried to fatten him up for her to eat. Thankfully, Gretel was not held captive and was able to push the witch into an oven, killing her. Hansel and Gretel were able to escape the witches house with gems and returning home to their loving father, while their mother have passed away.

I would love to use this book in my classroom, as it teaches the students not to trust strangers, not matter how nice they might be. The witch offered Hansel and Gretel food and a place to sleep at, but the witch didn't really help them, but she was only in it for herself. This would be a perfect book for second to fifth grade. I would first read this aloud to my students, then I would have my students fill out a sequencing chart of what happened in the book and have them draw pictures of each sequence.