Month: March 2026

King & Sendak’s “Hansel and Gretel”

Like most students learning a language, I took your usual school language classes. I learned to conjugate verbs and studied lists of vocabulary. I didn’t think I would ever learn to actually speak and hold conversation until one class changed everything. I signed up for a Grimms’ fairytales class in German. An entire class reading fairytales. This class changed my language journey, instead of trying to translate word for word, I started reading. I started learning meaning of words through context. The same way I read in English, I was learning to read in German. It was in that class that I truly realized the importance of stories and how we learn from them. This was of course two-fold, including both the lessons the Grimms fairytales taught and the way we read and hear stories teaching us language, imagination, and new perspectives.

Those stories have stayed with me. I love the original versions (far darker than the ones we tend to read today), retellings, picture book versions. When I saw the Stephen King retelling of “Hansel and Gretel” illustrated by Maurice Sendak, I needed to read that version.

For those of you who have been long time readers of on the children’s shelf, you may remember my Maurice Sendak story. For those who are newer here, many years ago, I was sitting in a waiting room and Maurice Sendak walked in. He sat down and immediately opened a book which he held up so no one would notice him; except I already had. I was trying to keep my cool, but he realized I recognized him. He lowered his book, made eye contact with me and smiled. It’s not a dramatically exciting story but it means so much to me. In that moment, I hope my excitement expressed my gratitude for his stories, appreciation of his illustrations, and that I truly believe great children’s stories impact us for the rest of our lives.

King and Sendak’s “Hansel and Gretel” is a beautiful retelling. The illustrations are everything I hoped they would be and more. This retelling brings a combination of the Grimm brothers and King into a dark and magical new tale with proper homage paid to the original story.

When you pick up your copy, be sure to remove the dustjacket…the book itself is beautiful. Definitely check out this incredible retelling of famous fairytale.

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Paper Wishes

You know those books that you finish and just sit there and think about them? They just stay with you and your mind keeps thinking through the story? That was my reaction to “Paper Wishes” by Lois Sepahban. Since finishing the book, I just keep thinking it over. I sit down and try to write this and nothing I write seems to do it justice so bear with me as I attempt to write about this brilliant historical fiction.

In “Paper Wishes,” we meet 10-year-old Manami. The year is 1942 and it is right after Pearl Harbor. Manami’s family, along with other Japanese American families, are being sent by the government from their home in the Pacific Northwest to a prison camp in the desert. Manami and her family are scared and sad to leave their home but Manami especially does not want to leave her grandfather’s dog. She tries to sneak him along with them but is caught and the dog is taken away.

Manami is devastated to lose their dog, scared of this new life in the prison camp, and wishing her dog could find his way to them. Manami is mute from the pain, and from the time she arrives at the camp she only communicates through drawings. She sends her wishes, drawings on paper, out into the world in paper airplanes, hoping her dog will find them and heal some of the pain she is feeling.

Sepahban’s beautifully written story shows this dark time in our history through a 10-year-old’s eyes. When we think about camps like this, it’s easy to see them as far away in a different period of time, separate from us. Sepahban takes us into the camp with Manami. We see families, communities, friends. We see their struggle and their attempts to keep some semblance of normal for their children. While the subject might seem too dark for young children, Sepahban writes this story in a way that young readers can understand and see this experience through Manami’s eyes.

It’s been weeks since I’ve read this and I’m still thinking about Manami and her family. I’ve always believed a great children’s book is a great story that is written appropriately for children but can be enjoyed by readers of all ages. “Paper Wishes” is definitely one of those books.

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