The Story of Hansel and Gretel (and Bingham too)

My big senior project this semester was developing the story of Hansel and Gretel into an eight spread pop-up book. The first thing I did was re-write the story. It never made any sense to me why those kids would want to go back to their dad if he listened to their evil step mom and left them in the forest willingly. That just seemed awful.

My next step was the break the story down into eight key moments and engineer it. An earlier post shows what the spreads look like before I illustrate them. Here are some photos of the finished book. Everything was printed at home on my Epson printer and cut out by hand before I assembled the pieces. A big thanks to an awesome photographer, Jen O'Sullivan, for taking fabulous photos.

Cover

Spread 1: Close up of Hansel, Gretel, and Bingham playing on a swing

Spread 2: Hansel and Gretel get lost by chasing after a squirrel

Spread 2: Father gathers wood

Spread 3: Hansel and Gretel are lost in the dark forest
but in the distance is a faint glow

Spread 3: Huddling under a tree

Spread 4: The witch's cottage as a ginger bread house surrounded
by confectioner's sugar or in my case, glitter

Spread 4: Close up of the cottage

Spread 4: Close up of the witch welcoming Hansel, Gretel, and Bingham

Spread 5: A candy and baked goods feast

Spread 5: Bingham knows something is not right

Spread 6: The evil witch's true identity and plans are revealed

Spread 6: Close up of the Witch's face

Spread 7: Tricking the witch into the oven

Spread 8: Close up of being home and eating vegetables