Hansel and Gretel

Quick Answer

Why This Story Works for Bedtime

This one is intense. It can work for older kids who handle suspense, especially if you read with a steady, reassuring tone and emphasize the siblings’ bravery and safe homecoming.

Story Synopsis

Hansel and Gretel live in poverty, and their family becomes desperate. In some versions, a stepmother convinces the father to abandon the children in the forest, believing there isn’t enough food. Hansel hears the plan and tries to protect Gretel by leaving a trail, first with pebbles that glitter in moonlight. That plan works once. But the second time, Hansel has only bread crumbs, and the birds eat them. The children are lost in the deep woods, hungry and frightened. After wandering, they discover a marvelous cottage made of bread, cake, and sugar. Starving, they nibble at the walls. An old woman invites them in kindly—but she is a witch. She cages Hansel to fatten him and forces Gretel to work. Gretel must live with fear and watchfulness, finding small ways to stay brave. The witch tests Hansel, impatient for him to grow ‘plump,’ and the tension builds. At last, Gretel outsmarts the witch, pushing her into the oven when the witch bends to check the heat. The children free themselves, find treasure, and escape the house. With help from nature—often a bird or a stream—they find their way back home. The ending brings relief: the children return, the danger is over, and their courage is recognized. The tale’s heart is the siblings’ teamwork: they survive because they stay together and think clearly under fear.

Story Excerpt

Hard by a great forest lived a poor woodcutter with his wife and his two children. The boy was called Hansel, and the girl Gretel. The little family worked and worked, but the times were hard, and there was not much food in the house. One night, when the wind worried the shutters and the pot in the kitchen was nearly empty, the woodcutter sighed in his bed. “ What is to become of us? ” he whispered. “ How are we to feed our poor children, when we no longer have enough even for ourselves? ” His wife answered in a low, firm voice, “ I’ll tell you what, husband. Early tomorrow morning we will take the children into the forest, where it is thickest. We will light a fire for them and give each of them one piece of bread. Then we will go to our work and leave them there. They will not find the way home again. ” The woodcutter sat up, shaken. “ No, wife. I will not do that. How can I bear to leave my children alone in the forest? ” But she would not let him rest. She scolded and insisted, and at last, with a heavy heart, he gave in. In the little room where Hansel and Gretel slept, hunger had kept them awake. They heard every word. Gretel’s eyes filled with tears. “ Now all is over with us, ” she whispered. “ Be quiet, Gretel, ” Hansel said, pressing her hand. His voice was steady even though his stomach ached. “ Don’t distress yourself. I will soon find a way to help us. ” When the house finally went quiet and the grown - ups were asleep, Hansel slipped out of bed, put on his little coat, and crept downstairs. The moon shone brightly. In front of the house lay small white pebbles, glittering…

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