Books like Hansel and Gretel
By Rika Lesser
For families who love a good scare at bedtime, this is the classic fairy tale in its full, unsoftened form — dread, hunger, and cleverness all intact. Hushed, atmospheric, and a little dangerous — gorgeous oil paintings that hold real menace alongside real beauty.
A witch called Heckedy Peg turns seven children into food after they disobey their mother's warning, leaving her to find a way to save them.
A brave boy ignores his grandfather's warnings about the dangers lurking beyond the garden gate and sets out to face a wolf, determined to catch it himself.
A girl in a red cloak walks alone through the woods to visit her ailing grandmother, unaware that a wicked wolf is following close behind with plans of his own.
A young donkey finds a magic pebble that grants wishes, but a panicked wish during a scary encounter with a lion turns him into a rock — with no way to wish himself back.
A beautiful girl is locked away in a lonely tower by a witch, cut off from the world with only her impossibly long hair for company.
A traveling trickster arrives in a village too terrified to celebrate Hanukkah, and must outwit a houseful of goblins — one each night — before facing their monstrous King.
A miller's daughter is locked in a room and ordered to spin straw into gold, so a strange little man appears offering to do it for her — in exchange for a price that grows more dangerous with each visit.
A boy afraid to go to school rides his grandfather's 1952 Ford time machine back through Big Papa's own frightening moments, hearing the same lesson each time: that's called being brave.
A young boy visits his nana in the city and finds it loud, crowded, and frightening — until she sews him a special cape that helps him feel brave enough to see it as wonderful.
A boardinghouse girl in nineteenth-century Paris spots a quiet stranger walking on air across the courtyard and begs him to teach her — not knowing he's a once-famous wire-walker now gripped by fear.
A timid squirrel afraid of thunder, hawks, and dark forest paths must carry soup through Buckthorn Forest to her sick Granny Oak, facing creatures who want to help — and some who want the soup.
When an enormous black dog appears outside the Hope family home, every family member panics and hides — until the youngest, tiniest member decides to walk outside and face it herself.
