Maybe it’s all of the grey days we’ve had this winter, but over the weekend I found myself looking at (and comparing) the gingerbread cottages in several editions of Hansel and Gretel. I was considering which would be the best one to visit, and then remembered the gingerbread comes with a witch inside so maybe visiting is a bad idea. Not surprisingly, there are many gingerbread house styles, from the relatively simple to over-the-top candy extravaganzas.
If you prefer a traditional gingerbread house, James Marshall has you covered:
Susan Jeffers’ house looks like something emerging from the mist – a place where a magical fairy, rather than a witch, lives:
I like this one too. It’s from Cynthia Rylant’s re-telling of the fairy tale with illustrations by Jen Corace:
Folk artist Will Moses (the great-grandson of Grandma Moses) has his own interpretation of the cottage. This is a scene that makes me look forward to warm days ahead:
Eloise Wilkin is best known for her many illustrations of Little Golden Books. This is her cottage:
And from a kind of eery version of Hansel and Gretel, this is Anthony Browne’s version. As a side note, Browne’s version has the scariest witch, mostly because she seems kind of “real.”
This is one I’d never seen until beginning my internet research into gingerbread cottages. It’s by a Russian illustrator, Anastassija Archipova:
Bethan Woolvin is an English author and illustrator of fractured fairy tales. Her book, Little Red, a retelling of Red Riding Hood was one of the New York Times Best Illustrated Books in 2016. Here’s her take on the gingerbread cottage:
Rachel Isadora’s gingerbread cottage is a pink dream – but light on the candy:
Here’s a classic illustration by Kay Nielson, the Danish artist who worked in the Art Nouveau style:
This one, by Caldecott-medalist Paul O. Zelinsky, looks delicious – and Hansel and Gretel seem ready to try a few things:
There are many other versions of Hansel and Gretel, but I had to stop somewhere! In other library news, an eagle-eyed student spotted this typo on the spine of a fact book. The facts on the inside pages may be accurate, but don’t trust the cover. (Do you see it? It took me a minute!)
What I’m reading:
I’m reading this new book to begin preparing for a mid-March trip that will include visits to many museums. The author spent ten years working as a guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. I’m learning lots of fun facts, like: Met guards get an $80.00 allowance to replace worn-out socks.
Happy Reading!
Sommer Reading 