English / India
Lucky / Happy Hans
Grimm, Jacob
(text)
Grimm, Wilhelm
(text)
Wolf, Gita
(retelling)
Vijayakumar, Divya
(retelling)
Maguma
(illus.)
Chennai: Tara Books, [2021]. – [32] p.
ISBN 978-93-90037-04-9
Folk tale | Happiness | Leporello | Picture book | Bad fortune | Consumerism
Reading age: 12+
White Ravens issue: 2022
The Grimm Brothers’ folk tale »Hans in Luck« recounts the (bad) luck of a young man who makes a series of very unprofitable exchanges that eventually leave him without any material possessions, but inexplicably happy. In this multi-level retelling, Spanish artist Maguma envisions two versions of Hans’s journey: one set in the past, the other one in a dystopian videogame-like environment. Designed as a double-sided accordion book, each version depicts the protagonist’s path and the other characters’ fortunes on eight double spreads that fold out into two continuous images. The text – short exclamations and suggestive questions for the more traditional tale, versus choose-your-own-adventure type instructions and twitter-like messages for the modern version – invite readers to ponder Hans’s decisions and motives. Gita Wolf’s two short introductory essays provide background information and point out the complexity as well as the myriad of possible interpretations for both original tale and retellings. Fascinating! [CS]