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.
![Hamlet 2.jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54ef4a93e4b01b969d320540/1576182829762-98IRV00UDJA8DXVH3RMJ/Hamlet+2.jpg)
![Hamlet 6.jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54ef4a93e4b01b969d320540/1576182898975-YJWWL83JD0LLYA3EM09A/Hamlet+6.jpg)
![Hamlet 4.jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54ef4a93e4b01b969d320540/1576182844077-5TV35OIFXT0LH86EWYCY/Hamlet+4.jpg)
![Hamlet 10.jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54ef4a93e4b01b969d320540/1576182925353-4NYD1LIN9LDBGWPL4ILV/Hamlet+10.jpg)
![Hamlet 11.jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54ef4a93e4b01b969d320540/1576182942493-KQRG636QTU7JXO94167P/Hamlet+11.jpg)
![Hamlet 14.jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54ef4a93e4b01b969d320540/1576182950503-EKAALJAB2W44TIAG4KNE/Hamlet+14.jpg)
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