- Picture Books
- Ages 4–7
- Fairy Tales
Hansel and Gretel
Book 3 of 4 in Rebel FairytalesView the full series
The witch has a gingerbread house and a plan. Hansel and Gretel have other ideas. Woollvin turns the classic on its head by making the children the most alarming characters in the story, funnier and darker than the original, with a chaos-first energy children find absolutely irresistible.
- Best for4–7
- FormatPicture
- Length40 pp
- Read aloud~8 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Conversational
- Comedic
- Literary
Tone
- Funny
- Silly
- Dark
- Irreverent
- Absurdist
- Whimsical
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
In the original, Hansel and Gretel are the victims. In Woollvin's version, this is not quite the frame. The witch thinks she has two ordinary children. She is wrong. Woollvin's Hansel and Gretel are sharper, more gleeful, and considerably more dangerous than anyone expects, and the book exploits the comic potential of this to maximum effect. The gingerbread house sequences are especially strong: the children's reaction to finding a house made of food is not fear but delight of a particular, slightly alarming kind. The energy level is higher than the previous Rebel Fairytales books, the comedy broader and sillier, and the ending delivers a satisfying inversion that younger readers love to anticipate and shout along with. Woollvin's art is as distinctive as ever: the witch's angular menace, the children's round-eyed gleeful expressions, the saturated limited palette. The most energetically funny entry in the series.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 4–7
- Read aloud · 4–8
- Independent · 6–8
Prose load
Light
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Workable
Read-aloud quality
Excellent
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Reading together
Preview before sharing if a child is sensitive to: scary imagery, violence.
Bedtime suitability
2 / 5 · Better outside bedtime
Sensitive-child
2 / 5 · Use judgement
Graphic intensity
3 / 5 · Some
Best for
- Stunning illustrations
- Laugh out loud
- Discussion starter
- Gift book
- Feminist retelling
Avoid if
No common reasons to avoid this one — a rare clean sweep on the sensitivity flags.
Particularly good for children who are…
- Anger management
- Interested in art and creativity
- Anxiety and worry
In the classroom
How it works in school.
Bold, witty fairy-tale retellings with fearless heroines — great read-alouds for talking about fairness and stereotypes, and a fresh angle on traditional tales.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The specific delight is Hansel and Gretel being the alarming ones — the witch's gingerbread house lures them in and they react with delight more than fear, taking what they want, behaving worse than any picture-book children before them. The Rebel Fairytale that makes a five-year-old laugh hardest.
- Trickery and cleverness
- Revenge on adults
- Having a nemesis
- Magic powers
Why parents love it
The Bethan Woollvin Hansel and Gretel — children as the villains, witch unexpectedly sympathetic, the energy levels at the series' highest. Useful conversation-starter about taking things that aren't yours. Striking limited-palette art throughout.
- Shared humour
- Beautiful illustrations
- Conversation starter
- Quick to read
In the series
Rebel Fairytales.
4 books · open the series →
About the author & illustrator
Bethan Woollvin.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
More like this…
Books that share themes and topics with this one.
Where you’ll find it
On these reading lists.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
- Bookshop.org ↗
- Waterstones ↗
- Amazon UK ↗
- Hive ↗
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