I was delighted when the illustrator, Claudia Marie Lenart sent me a copy of this book to review. As a mommy to a special needs child I love to see books that feature other special needs children. So while my son does not have Down Syndrome he knows at least one child from his class who does have it.
This version of Hansel and Gretel have the two children heading out into the forrest in search of food for their starving family. Hansel enjoying the freedom runs off away from his sister. He comes upon the house made of candy and begins to eat it. The witch comes out to discover him and wonders how "stupid" he is. Hansel shows the witch by knocking her over and stealing her broom. He then demands that the witch teach him the spell for never ending house of candy. By the end the two become friends.
Alright this is another book where the art makes the book. Claudia's felt work is AMAZING. Just the little braids in Gretel and her mother's hair had me in awe. Just simply GORGEOUS!
The story itself wasn't bad. It was a bit more wordy than my son likes (when he first saw it he asked me if it was an adult book). But he patiently sat through the whole thing. It had the feel of the old fairy tale and had its own twist by having Hansel having Down Syndrome. But wasn't a perfect story for me.
That said my son liked it and he thought it was 5 stars. So as I usually do I default to his rating. So 5 out of 5 stars.
*I received a free copy of this ebook from the illustrator in exchange for my honest opinion
**This book was read with my special needs son who is severely learning disabled. The review reflects not only my opinion but his as well
No comments:
Post a Comment