Katya Kuznetsova

Hansel and Gretel are sent into the woods by their parents as punishment to collect berries. As dusk falls, the siblings stray from their way home, discover a gingerbread house, and hungrily sample its treats. Inside lives an old, ugly witch who enchants children into gingerbread. Hansel and Gretel slowly realize that they are in danger. With great cunning, the children push the wicked old woman into her own oven, which explodes, allowing them to escape. Finally, all the children are found by their worried parents, who have been searching for them in the woods. The family of Hansel and Gretel is joyfully reunited as well.

The children's opera classic by Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921) is faithfully retold by Bert Alexander Petzold and is fully illustrated in four colors by Georgian artist Katya Kuznetsova. The audiobook version, presented as a staged reading with popular actress Jana Rahma, includes music and well-known songs like "Suse, dear Suse..." and "A little man stands in the woods..." and is available for download with the book. The title is part of the series "Great Classics Made Easy for Kids."

Engelbert Humperdinck composed numerous songs and orchestral works, but he preferred to write operas for children. After studying at the Conservatory in Cologne and the Royal Music School in Munich, he became an assistant to the famous Richard Wagner and later even served as the musical director of the Bayreuth Festival. Humperdinck gained worldwide fame with his children's opera "Hansel and Gretel," which premiered on December 23, 1893, at the German National Theatre in Weimar with the Weimar State Orchestra. The opera's libretto was written by his sister Adelheid Wette, née Humperdinck.