Read this story on Yak Yacker with clickable word help, full story audio, and lesson notes below the text.
This version is written for English-speaking learners who want a friendly reading experience in English.
Hansel and Gretel are . They live with their and . The family is very . They have no food.
One night, the stepmother says, "We must . We must ." The father is . He says, "No, that is not good." But the stepmother tells him . In the end, he .
Hansel . He goes outside. There are many white . He . "I have a ," he thinks.
The next morning, they . Hansel the pebbles on the ground. The pebbles make a . The stepmother and father . "Wait here," they say. Then they .
The moon comes up. The pebbles in the . Hansel and Gretel the shiny line. They walk and walk. They to their house. The father is very happy. But the stepmother is .
The next day, the stepmother . She . Hansel cannot . He has no pebbles. He takes a piece of bread. He small crumbs.
They go . Hansel drops the . But birds the crumbs. Now the children are . They walk and walk. Then they see a house. It is made of ! A witch lives in the house. She smiles and says, "Come in, dear children." But she is a bad witch. She puts Hansel in a . She says, "Now I will eat you!" Gretel is . She . The witch is gone. The children find . They go home. The father is so happy. They are never hungry again.
Hansel and Gretel are siblings. They live with their dad and stepmom. They are poor and have no food.
One night, the stepmother says they must leave the kids in the forest. The father is sad and says no. But she keeps asking. Finally, he agrees.
Hansel hears the plan. He goes outside, finds white pebbles, and puts them in his pocket. He thinks, 'I have a plan.'
Next morning, they walk into the forest. Hansel drops the pebbles, making a white line. The parents leave the children, saying, 'Wait here,' and go away.
The moon rises. The pebbles shine. Hansel and Gretel follow the shiny line back home. The father is happy, but the stepmother is angry.
Next day, the stepmother tries again. She locks the door. Hansel can't get pebbles, so he takes bread and breaks it into crumbs.
They go deep into the forest. Hansel drops breadcrumbs, but birds eat them. Lost, they find a candy house. A witch lures them in. She cages Hansel to eat him. Clever Gretel pushes the witch into the oven. The children find treasure and go home. The father is happy, and they never go hungry again.
Let's learn some important words from the story. Look at the pictures and say the words aloud!
- Family: brother, sister, father, stepmother
- Things: pebbles, breadcrumbs, candy, witch, cage, oven, treasure
- Feelings: poor, hungry, sad, angry, happy, clever
Here are some short phrases from the story. Try to use them when you speak English.
- "I have a plan." - when you have an idea
- "Wait here." - to tell someone to stay
- "Come in." - to invite someone inside
- "I will eat you!" - (for witches only!) - but you can learn "will" for future
The story uses the present simple tense. This makes the story feel like it is happening now.
- Actions: They walk. He drops. She smiles.
- Facts: They are brother and sister. The witch is bad.
- Thoughts: He thinks, "I have a plan."
Now you can tell the story to a friend. Use the new words and phrases. Try to make your own story about a clever child!
Hansel and Gretel comes from an older public-domain story tradition and is best known as a public_domain_fairy_tale_retelling. This Yak Yacker article is an original learner retelling based on public-domain source material, so the wording here is simplified for modern learners rather than copied from one old edition.
Older printings, translations, and retellings of this story can vary quite a bit. This version is adapted for A1 Beginner learners studying English.
If you want to keep going, browse more in our English section and review the A1 English Vocabulary List. After that, try 1,200 English Phrases and Expressions for another useful next step.
