Good Things Come in Threes
Hensel and Gretel: Ninja Chicks, by Corey Rosen Schwartz and Rebecca Gomez, illustrated by Dan Dantat; Putnam, $17.99, 32 pages, ages 4-7. (May 24, 2016)
In the third in a ninja-themed fractured fairy tale trilogy, Corey Rosen Schwartz, Rebecca Gomez, and Caldecott Medal winner Dan Santat combine witty limericks with bold illustrations to delightful comic effect. Here, in a twist on the Grimm Brothers’ classic Hansel and Gretel, ninja chicks Hensel and Gretel must rescue their parents from the clutches of a cunning fox. Recalling campy 1980s marital arts films, the fleet-footed rhyme is expertly matched by Santat’s bold artwork–close-ups of tense poultry and malicious foxes begs to be read with the soundtrack from “Hard to Kill” in the background. A plucky twist on an old favorite.
Literary Features Syndicate 