Bestselling author Stephen King, known for his horror novels, ventures to a new project for young readers: inside. The 77-year-old wrote his own version of the children’s classic “Hansel and Gretel”, which will be published as a book in autumn. The writer himself takes over the role of speaker for the audio book. The picture book combines Kings text with the illustrations by Maurice Sendak, the creator of the cult children’s book “Where the wild guys live” in 2012. Sendak had designed stage sets for an opera version of “Hansel and Gretel” in the 1990s. These motifs are now flowing into the book.
Recommendations of the editorial team
Stephen King: Inspiration for “Hansel and Gretel” by Maurice Sendak’s pictures
The American explains that two of Sendak’s pictures have particularly inspired him: the witch on their broom with a sack kidnapped children and the candy house, which gets a terrifying face in the reinterpretation. “For me, this is the essence of all fairy tales: a sunny appearance, a dark inner, brave and imaginative children,” says King. He sees parallels to many of his stories in which children are also the focus.
Connection of two generations of artists
Despite their different lifetime, King and Sendak have never worked together, but the Maurice Sendak Foundation praises the connection of the two artistic works: “Kings adaptation reads as if he were looking at Maurice. Both are virtuosos of their subject.”
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King is the author of more than 65 books, including horror classics such as “ES” and “Shining”, and is one of the most successful bestselling authors worldwide, with millions of copies sold. He often taught the audio books of his works himself and is now continuing this tradition with “Hansel and Gretel”.