A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwidtz (2010) Penguin Young Readers

In which the novelist takes on the narrator’s tongue-in-cheek about Hansel and Gretel as the main characters of several Grimm tales;

- Faithful Johannes about the man who under-stood four generations of kings of Grimm and did everything he could to help his kings achieve their goals, even stealing the most beautiful woman in the world to marry – who bore her king twins (Hansel and Gretel) at great cost of his own life, and then great cost of the lives of the twins, even though they were revived, prompting them to run away and embark on their own adventures.

- Hansel and Gretel – the classic tale of the children finding the witch’s chocolate cake home (not gingerbread?) and being taken-in by the baker, who fed them sweets, fattening them up to eat.  Only the tables got turned and she ended up baking in the oven.

- The Seven Swallows – when Hansel and Gretel fled the witch, they asked a farmer to take them in – he always wanted a daughter; he had seven sons, with whom he was disappointed.  He cursed the sons and they turned into swallows.  When the twins found out, they fled with the intent of finding the swallows and freeing them from the curse.  Hansel came upon an old gnome in the forest who told he where the swallows had gone and that he would need a chicken bone to unlock the door.  The Twins climbed the crystal mountain and found the door just like told gnome told them, but Gretel lost the bone, so she cut-off her own finger to use as the key.  When they told the swallows that their parents missed them and loved them, they turned back into humans and went home.

- A Smile as Red as Blood - The twins, lost in a forest, happened upon a beautiful glade and a tree told them they could stay as long as they respected the forest.  But each night, Hansel was overcome by an urge to hunt.  He became more beast than human and eventually he was hunted by the local duke.  But when the beast was paraded at the duke’s court and skinned, Hansel was discovered inside the skin.  The duke had a terrible gambling habit and lost to the Devil – the prize was whatever was in his room in front of the fire.  When they got to the castle, Hansel, recuperating, was warming his hands before the fire – the Devil claimed his due.

- The Three Golden Hairs – the twins were separated and Hansel is in a panic because he has to go to hell.  At this time, Joseph has found Hansel and tells him that if he could get three of the Devil’s golden hairs, the Devil would have no power over him.  On the way to hell, he finds tow different villages with problems caused by the Devil.  Once he’s in hell, he refuses to act like the other tormented souls, so the demons take him to the Devil’s home in hell.  There, he steals the Devil’s glasses and while he is nearsighted, he proceeds to steal the hairs.  On his way back, he favors the people who had been vexed by the Devil.

- Hansel and Gretel and the Broken Kingdom – in which the twins return home to find their country in ruins by a dragon.  They decide to do something about it.  But it’s not easy.

- Hansel and Gretel and the Dragon – the Twins raise a ragtag army to fight the dragon and lose a lot of their soldiers in the fight, but they survive, a first, and they wound the dragon, a first.  When they get back to the castle, their father has a terrible headache and does not come down to see them, but their mother is very proud.

- Hansel and Gretel and their Parents – the twins deduce that their father is the dragon, so they kill him, but like he did for them, they revive their father.  The King and Queen, abdicate their throne to their children and they live -maybe not entirely happy and not ever after, but it’s the end of the story.