What would Hamlet sound like boiled down to around 100 words—and then injected with all the pitch-black humor and pathos of legendary Scandinavian children’s book author Barbro Lindgren? Well, like this:
Look Hamlet.
Hamlet not happy.
Hamlet’s mommy dumb.
Hamlet’s daddy dead
So begins Look Hamlet, a radically condensed and darkly hilarious retelling of Shakespeare’s classic. And what would Hamlet look like as a woebegone lop-eared bunny with a handbag? Look no further! Swedish artist Anna Höglund has conjured up these jealous, despondent, poison-drinking, murderous woodland creatures with deeply charming gloom and surprising depth of feeling. Her illustrations are the lovechild of Beatrix Potter and Edward Gorey, and we’re delighted to share a look at them here.
by Barbro Lindgren
Illustrated by Anna Höglund
Translated from the Swedish by Rachel Willson-Broyles
A hilarious, darkly comic graphic retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet in radically condensed prose by legendary Swedish children’s author Barbro Lindgren and illustrator Anna Höglund.
Hardcover • ISBN: 9781632062598
Publication date: Oct 29, 2019