Last Updated on July 14, 2025 by Angel Melanson
Stephen King is stepping away from telling his own terrifying tales to reimagine a classic. HarperCollins has announced that the legendary author is tackling Hansel and Gretel in a new children’s book, based on illustrations by famed children’s author and Where the Wild Things Are creator Maurice Sendak. Not only that — he’s bringing an audiobook version to life too!
King, who wrote the children’s book based on Sendak’s set and costume design illustrations for the 1997 Humperdinck opera of Hansel and Gretel, will also lend his voice to the new audiobook, which hits audio players everywhere in September. The book, which the late Sendak described as “the most profound of all Grimm fairy tales” in a 1997 interview, will be available for download in the U.S. and Canada from HarperCollins Audio and in the United Kingdom from Hodder Children’s Books.
“When I was asked if I might be interested in writing a new interpretation of ‘Hansel and Gretel,’ bending it to fit (loosely) with set and costume designs Maurice Sendak had created for the Humperdinck opera of the story, I was interested,” King said. “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. I thought, This is what the house really looks like, a devil sick with sin, and it only shows that face when the kids turn their backs. I wanted to write that! 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.”
The new audiobook version of Hansel and Gretel will be available from your player of choice on September 2 alongside the physical release of the book. You can listen to a sneak preview of the new story here.
