The witch from “Hansel and Gretel” as retold by Stephen King and illustrated by Maurice Sendak. Copyright@ The Maurice Sendak Foundation. It seems, at first glance, a brilliant idea: bring together a great writer of horror stories, a legendary children’s book illustrator, and a classic children’s fairy tale. The result — a retelling of Hansel and Gretel by Stephen King, with illustrations by Maurice Sendak — does indeed have many moments of brilliance. It has a few hurdles to overcome first, though.