#331 of 1001 · June 27, 2021

Once again we embark upon a fairy tale sequence…come and join me for Hansel and Gretel Week! First, a version written and illustrated by Holly Hobbie. In a detailed Artist’s Note, Hobbie explains her childhood obsession with the Great Gildersleeve’s audio record of the fairy tale. She adapted the text of this book from Ralph Manheim’s translation of the Brothers Grimm. Her illustrations, created with transparent watercolor, pen and ink, and gouache on watercolor paper, feature characters and objects clustered in the center, with stark, lonely space at the edges. In contrast to the bleak tone of the beginning of the book, the witch appears flamboyant, garish, and almost disturbingly cheerful, sporting a black hat and brooch outdoors and a preposterous chef’s jacket and toque hat while serving dinner. In a more frightening moment, she sharpens a knife on a grindstone as the children look on, surrounded by the bones of her previous victims. #forest #woods #house #witch #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #beautifulbookcover #beautifulbookcovers #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookillustrations #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks