Even death, it seems, is no obstacle when it comes to adding to the canon of a well-known children’s-lit artist. This year, the names of two such artists — America’s Maurice Sendak, who died in 2012 a month shy of his 84th birthday, and the Netherlands’ Dick Bruna, who died in 2017 at the age of 89 — graced the title pages of new picture books. While aimed at young readers (and listeners), both books merit attention from even the very old.

Hansel and Gretel Retold by Stephen King

Illustrated by Maurice Sendak

HarperCollins

Ages 6 to 8

The Brothers Grimm are usually credited with the folk tale of Hansel and Gretel, a pair of siblings abandoned in the forest when their stepmother deemed it too costly to continue feeding them and their father reluctantly agreed. But Jacob and Wilhelm G

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