Once upon a time, at the edge of a big green forest, lived a brother and sister named Hansel and Gretel. Their father was a woodcutter, and their mother baked the best bread in the village. One sunny Saturday, the whole family packed a picnic basket and went to a meadow beside the forest.
After lunch, Mother and Father sat under a shady tree to rest. "You may play in the meadow," said Father, "but always stay where you can see us."
Hansel and Gretel played tag. They rolled down the grassy hill, roly-poly, roly-poly. Then a big yellow butterfly fluttered past. "Let's follow it!" said Gretel. Flutter, flutter went the butterfly, and skip, skip went the children, a little way into the trees... and a little more... and a little more.
Clever Hansel had a piece of bread in his pocket. "I'll drop crumbs so we can find our way back," he said. Crumb, crumb, crumb. But behind them, the friendly forest birds hopped down and gobbled up every crumb. Peck, peck, peck!
When the butterfly flew high into the sky, the children turned around. "Where did the crumbs go?" said Hansel. The path looked a little different now. Gretel took his hand. "Let's stay calm and think," she said. "Mother says if you're not sure where you are, stay together and find a grown-up to help."
So they held hands and walked slowly along the path. Sniff, sniff. "Hansel, can you smell that?" It smelled like warm cookies and honey. They followed the sweet smell, and there, in a sunny little clearing, stood the most wonderful house they had ever seen.
The walls were made of gingerbread. The roof was covered with white icing, like snow. The door was a giant chocolate bar, and the path was paved with round candies, red and green and purple and yellow. "Wow!" said Hansel, and he broke off a teeny piece of the gingerbread fence. Crunch! Gretel licked a little dab of icing. Yum!
Creak! The chocolate door opened, and out came a little old woman with round glasses and flour all over her apron. Hansel and Gretel stood very still. "Oh! We're sorry," said Gretel. "We nibbled your fence without asking."
The old woman's face crinkled into a big smile. "Thank you for saying sorry, my dears. I'm Granny Crumble, the forest baker. Hardly anyone visits me way out here, so sometimes I feel a little lonely. Would you like a proper snack?"
Inside, the little house was warm and smelled delicious. Granny Crumble poured them milk and gave them gingerbread stars. She showed them her big oven, then let them help roll out cookie dough, roll, roll, roll, and press in raisins for eyes. They laughed so much that flour ended up on their noses.
Then Hansel remembered something. "Mother and Father will be looking for us!" Granny Crumble nodded. "Then let's take you back right now. I know every path in this forest." She packed a basket of cookies, took their hands, and walked with them until they heard voices calling, "Hansel! Gretel!"
"Mother! Father!" The children ran into their parents' arms. "We followed a butterfly too far," said Gretel. "We're sorry. Granny Crumble helped us find you." Mother hugged Granny Crumble too. "Thank you for looking after them. Please stay and share our picnic."
So they all sat together in the meadow, munching gingerbread, bread and apples. Mother and Granny Crumble swapped baking secrets. And from then on, every Saturday, Hansel and Gretel's family walked to the candy house in the forest, with Father leading the way, and Granny Crumble was never lonely again.
Parent tip: Ask your child what Gretel said to do when you are not sure where you are, and chant "stay together, find a grown-up" as a little rhyme.
Ask your child: After the story, you can ask: “Who was kind in this story, and what did they do?”
This is a gentle retelling with no abandonment and no witch; the old baker is kind and walks the children safely back to their parents.