Horror writer, Stephen King and author of Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak have reimagined the Brothers Grimm’s twisted fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel in a new picture book that will be published in September this year. HarperCollins has announced the new edition of this classic which will be written by Stephen King, and illustrated by the late Caldecott Medallist, Sendak, featuring artwork that was originally created in 1997 as set and costume designs for the Engelbert Humperdinck opera of Hansel and Gretel.
This new project, which comes over a decade after Sendak’s death in 2012, is in collaboration with the Maurice Sendak Foundation, a non-profit that aims to preserve Sendak’s work and legacy.
Lynn Caponera, executive director of the foundation said: “We can’t think of a more wonderful, appropriate collaboration than King and Sendak.”
Stephen King added: “When I was asked if I might be interested in writing a new interpretation of Hansel and Gretel, … I was interested. When I saw the pictures themselves, I resolved to give it a try. Two of his pictures in particular spoke to me: one was of the wicked witch on her broom with a bag of kidnapped children riding behind her; the other was of the infamous candy house becoming a terrible face. To me, it was the essence of this story and, really, all fairy tales: a sunny exterior, a dark and terrible center, brave and resourceful children. In a way, I have been writing about kids like Hansel and Gretel for much of my life.”
Stephen King’s career spans more than 50 years, publishing renowned horror classics including Carrie, It, and The Shining, and winning many awards including the Hugo Award, World Fantasy Award, and the Bram Stoker Award, among others. Maurice Sendak, won many accolades in children’s writing and illustration, including the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the Children’s Literature Legacy Award, and the Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration.
Hansel and Gretel by Stephen King and Maurice Sendak publishes simultaneously in the U.S. with HarperCollins and in the U.K. by Hodder Children’s Books on 2nd September 2025 and you can pre-order here.
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