Book, Head, and Heart Strategy--A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz
Book Title: A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz
In the BOOK...
1. What's the book about?
The book is about Hansel and Gretel. It starts with the journey of how their pts met and takes the reader through the many struggles that Hansel and Gretel endure after they run away from home.
2. Who's telling the story?
The author, Adam Gidwitz, does an excellent job at narrating the story. He tells the story with such vivid detail. I love how he puts paragraphs of his own commentary into the the story and makes it flow so naturally. Throughout the story, he continuously warns the readers to make sure that they are prepared for what is about to happen next or to double check and make sure that there are no children in the room when you read the next part.
3. What does the author want me to know?
The author wants me to know that there is more to the story of Hansel and Gretel than what we have grown up hearing from our parents. There is so much more background that makes up this story than just them running into the woods and almost being eaten by a witch. This book takes us through that background and beyond the house made of candy in the woods.
In your HEAD...
1. What surprised me?
What surprised me about this book was just how dark and gory the story of Hansel and Gretel was going to be. I knew based on the section of the story that we are told growing up, that it wasn't going to be a story of kittens and rainbows, but there were a lot of really dark moments that i was surprised to see the author describe and write about in such grave detail. This especially surprised me, since this is supposed to be geared toward adolescents. Then again, the books that I was reading myself, in middle school were probably just as graphic if not more so.
2. What does the author think I already know?
The author probably thinks I already know the basic Hansel and Gretel story that parents tell their children at bedtime. He also may think that I know the basic versions of many other Grimm fairytales that are told to us as we grow up and are portrayed in movies. These versions of the stories that we hear are not at all close to what we read from Adam Gidwitz in his books.
3. What changed, challenged or confirmed my thinking?
What changed my thinking was simply reading the book and the more I kept reading, the more I realized that this story was far from the mildly spooky version that I would hear as a child. What challenged my thinking was the story itself. The gruesome details throughout each chapter of the story; it was hard for me to imagine a middle school student reading a book like this. The book felt inappropriate at times and I myself, even as a grown adult felt a little uncomfortable during some moments in the story. When I read the synopsis of the book and looked at the cover I just knew that it was going to be a good read for me. Throughout my young adult life, I have always been fascinated by books with intense subjects. A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz was the perfect addition to my list of intense reads and I am eager to begin reading the second book in this captivating trilogy.
4. What did I notice?
Something that I noticed (or at least it's something that I felt was occurring) was how with each new "home" that Hansel and Gretel went and with each new set of "guardians" that they tried to live with, each one was worse than the last. It just kept spiraling down and further down until it was basically as if they felt that they had hit rock bottom and needed to return to their original home to help their parents, even though their parents were the reason that they ran away in the first place. I knew that eventually, they would have to go back to the castle, but I really liked how the author used different aspects of all of these fairy tales and other short stories that we've all come to know and love and intertwined them with the story of Hansel and Gretel.
In your HEART...
1. What did I learn about me?
Something that I really took away from the story is the importance of family. Hansel and Gretel, even though they ran away from home, they did everything they could to stick together throughout their journey. They may have gotten split up a time or two, but they always figured out a way to come back together. Hansel and Gretel, although they were very mad with their parents, felt that it was important to go back and help them in the end. Not only did they feel strongly about helping their parents, but they also wanted to save the people of their kingdom and that was important, too. They may have been a little worried about returning to their mother and father, but they put their fears aside and did what was right in the end.
2. How will this help me be better?
This will help me be better by allowing me to think even more about my family and how important it is to make a strong connection with my parents and my siblings. Family is a very important thing that we should never take for granted and I think that is a huge underlying message in this story.
In the BOOK...
1. What's the book about?
The book is about Hansel and Gretel. It starts with the journey of how their pts met and takes the reader through the many struggles that Hansel and Gretel endure after they run away from home.
2. Who's telling the story?
The author, Adam Gidwitz, does an excellent job at narrating the story. He tells the story with such vivid detail. I love how he puts paragraphs of his own commentary into the the story and makes it flow so naturally. Throughout the story, he continuously warns the readers to make sure that they are prepared for what is about to happen next or to double check and make sure that there are no children in the room when you read the next part.
3. What does the author want me to know?
The author wants me to know that there is more to the story of Hansel and Gretel than what we have grown up hearing from our parents. There is so much more background that makes up this story than just them running into the woods and almost being eaten by a witch. This book takes us through that background and beyond the house made of candy in the woods.
In your HEAD...
1. What surprised me?
What surprised me about this book was just how dark and gory the story of Hansel and Gretel was going to be. I knew based on the section of the story that we are told growing up, that it wasn't going to be a story of kittens and rainbows, but there were a lot of really dark moments that i was surprised to see the author describe and write about in such grave detail. This especially surprised me, since this is supposed to be geared toward adolescents. Then again, the books that I was reading myself, in middle school were probably just as graphic if not more so.
2. What does the author think I already know?
The author probably thinks I already know the basic Hansel and Gretel story that parents tell their children at bedtime. He also may think that I know the basic versions of many other Grimm fairytales that are told to us as we grow up and are portrayed in movies. These versions of the stories that we hear are not at all close to what we read from Adam Gidwitz in his books.
3. What changed, challenged or confirmed my thinking?
What changed my thinking was simply reading the book and the more I kept reading, the more I realized that this story was far from the mildly spooky version that I would hear as a child. What challenged my thinking was the story itself. The gruesome details throughout each chapter of the story; it was hard for me to imagine a middle school student reading a book like this. The book felt inappropriate at times and I myself, even as a grown adult felt a little uncomfortable during some moments in the story. When I read the synopsis of the book and looked at the cover I just knew that it was going to be a good read for me. Throughout my young adult life, I have always been fascinated by books with intense subjects. A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz was the perfect addition to my list of intense reads and I am eager to begin reading the second book in this captivating trilogy.
4. What did I notice?
Something that I noticed (or at least it's something that I felt was occurring) was how with each new "home" that Hansel and Gretel went and with each new set of "guardians" that they tried to live with, each one was worse than the last. It just kept spiraling down and further down until it was basically as if they felt that they had hit rock bottom and needed to return to their original home to help their parents, even though their parents were the reason that they ran away in the first place. I knew that eventually, they would have to go back to the castle, but I really liked how the author used different aspects of all of these fairy tales and other short stories that we've all come to know and love and intertwined them with the story of Hansel and Gretel.
In your HEART...
1. What did I learn about me?
Something that I really took away from the story is the importance of family. Hansel and Gretel, even though they ran away from home, they did everything they could to stick together throughout their journey. They may have gotten split up a time or two, but they always figured out a way to come back together. Hansel and Gretel, although they were very mad with their parents, felt that it was important to go back and help them in the end. Not only did they feel strongly about helping their parents, but they also wanted to save the people of their kingdom and that was important, too. They may have been a little worried about returning to their mother and father, but they put their fears aside and did what was right in the end.
2. How will this help me be better?
This will help me be better by allowing me to think even more about my family and how important it is to make a strong connection with my parents and my siblings. Family is a very important thing that we should never take for granted and I think that is a huge underlying message in this story.
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