Hansel And Gretel
Title: Hansel And Gretel
Genre: Traditional Literature
Author: Jan Brett
Major Awards: Caldecott honor book
Age group: 5 - 8 years old
Summary:
Hansel and Gretel, a young pair of siblings whose father is a poor woodcutter that can't feed his family.
The stepmother convinces the father to take the children into the woods and abandon them so that the
mother and father don't starve. The father agrees and walks the two into the woods and leaves them.
After finding their way home once, the second time they don't get so lucky. Days go by and the siblings
stumble upon a house made of gingerbread with an old woman inside. After escaping what turned out to
be a witch, Hansel and Gretel find their way home to their dad that tells them their step mother has died
and live happily ever after.
The stepmother convinces the father to take the children into the woods and abandon them so that the
mother and father don't starve. The father agrees and walks the two into the woods and leaves them.
After finding their way home once, the second time they don't get so lucky. Days go by and the siblings
stumble upon a house made of gingerbread with an old woman inside. After escaping what turned out to
be a witch, Hansel and Gretel find their way home to their dad that tells them their step mother has died
and live happily ever after.
I am not really sure that I would want to use this book in my classroom. I feel as if it may scare some kids
and possibly even give them the wrong idea about parents who are more on the poorer side. I just feel that
there are way better books than this one to use in a classroom setting. I would put this book in my library
for my students to explore if they wanted but I would not take the time to do group activities or create a
lesson based on Hansel and Gretel.
and possibly even give them the wrong idea about parents who are more on the poorer side. I just feel that
there are way better books than this one to use in a classroom setting. I would put this book in my library
for my students to explore if they wanted but I would not take the time to do group activities or create a
lesson based on Hansel and Gretel.
The appropriate age group for this book was kind of hard for me to determine due to the darkness of the
content. I would say this book is appropriate for students in Kindergarten through second grade. I decided
this due to the easy vocabulary, the pictures, and the short, simple to read sentences. If anything, I feel that
younger students would enjoy the cleverness of Hansel and Gretel and most of all the pictures in the book.
content. I would say this book is appropriate for students in Kindergarten through second grade. I decided
this due to the easy vocabulary, the pictures, and the short, simple to read sentences. If anything, I feel that
younger students would enjoy the cleverness of Hansel and Gretel and most of all the pictures in the book.
If I had to create a unit on this book I would first read the book aloud to the class and ask them questions
throughout. I would ask them things such as, “What do you think Hansel plans to do with the pebbles?
“Why does Hansel keep stopping and looking back?” “Do you think the parents will come back?” “Why
do you think the dad was happy and the mother was mad when the kids came back?” etc. I would
incorporate some math and have the kids guess how many pebbles it took Hansel and Gretel to find their
way home, having the kids count forwards and backwards. I would also have the kids draw the gingerbread
house and what they believe it looked like. With this book I more than likely wouldn't have a specific unit
but a plethora of activities over the book for the students to do.
throughout. I would ask them things such as, “What do you think Hansel plans to do with the pebbles?
“Why does Hansel keep stopping and looking back?” “Do you think the parents will come back?” “Why
do you think the dad was happy and the mother was mad when the kids came back?” etc. I would
incorporate some math and have the kids guess how many pebbles it took Hansel and Gretel to find their
way home, having the kids count forwards and backwards. I would also have the kids draw the gingerbread
house and what they believe it looked like. With this book I more than likely wouldn't have a specific unit
but a plethora of activities over the book for the students to do.
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