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I've loved the story of Beauty and the Beast all my life, and of the 30+ versions that I own, this is one of the best. While it is less traditional in style than others, the prose is incomparably beautiful and includes details, and a pivotal exchange between the title characters, that bring home the oldest moral of this story: beauty comes from within.
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From School Library Journal:
Grade 3 Up-Traditionalists will not find this retelling of the classic tale to their liking. McCaughrean dispenses with the scene-setting introduction of the original tale that takes Beauty's father from wealth to ruin and provides the reason for his arrival at Beast's palace. She begins, instead, on a cloudy night when a man named Gregor, traveling on horseback, glimpses the rooms of a palace in a fragment of mirror on the forest floor and is magically transported there. Inside, the man, who is Beauty's father, discovers breathtaking opulence, great gilded mirrors filled with cracks, and statues blindfolded with scarves of silk. He offers Beast some of his wealth in exchange for the rose he has picked. In the denouement, Beauty returns to her dying Beast and the spell is broken, the palace melts "like winter ice" and disappears. Blythe's artistic talent is evident in his full-page color scenes and in his pencil drawings and vignettes, but there is nothing classical about the appearance of Beauty and her father or their clothing. His Beast has a grotesque, misshapen, hairless face with deeply sunken eyes and small pointy ears. Readable as it is, the story has been so abbreviated and changed that it lacks several classic elements that are essential to the fairy-tale genre: the style of the storyteller, the triumph of good over evil, and a clear lesson of life. Marianna and Mercer Mayer's version (SeaStar, 2000) more closely parallels the original and is accompanied by exceptional romantic illustrations that are appropriate to the story.
Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Publishers Weekly:
Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The distinguished author and Greenaway Medal-winning illustrator disappoint with this chilly treatment of a cherished fairy tale. In McCaughrean's (My First Oxford Book of Stories) telling, Beauty is never afraid of the Beast and happily issues him invitations to join her; her sisters like her and want to protect her; and when she goes home, she nearly forgets about the Beast. These changes drain some of the drama from the original, while ornate prose further cushions the tensions of the plot (e.g., the moon "was a smoking mirror [that] disappeared behind a monstrous paw of cloud"). Blythe (The Whales' Song), meanwhile, contributes illustrations in two different styles. Black-and-white drawings, most of them serving as spot art, suggest traditional fairy-tale settings, such as tangled forests or meadows in full flower. But his full-page paintings have the hard-edged, futuristic look of a CD-ROM game. The supposedly sumptuous castle seems cold and arid, even ominous. Beauty herself appears very young, more girl than bride. All in all, a jarring presentation. Ages 5-8. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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- PublisherBantam Press
- Publication date1999
- ISBN 10 0385409575
- ISBN 13 9780385409575
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages32
- Rating
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BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Published by
Doubleday Children's Books, London
(1999)
ISBN 10: 0385409575
ISBN 13: 9780385409575
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Soft cover
First Edition
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Book Description Soft cover. Condition: New. Gary Blythe (illustrator). 1st Edition. This mint unread copy is bound in illustrated card covers as issued. The text block is tight white, bright and square. International postal rates are calculated on a book weighing 1 Kilo, in cases where the book weighs less then postage will be reduced accordingly. Where the book weighs more than 1 Kilo increased charges will be quoted, where the book weighs less then postage will be reduced accordingly. Gregor picks one perfect rose from the gardens of the Beast's palace for his youngest daughter, Beauty. But for the theft of the rose Gregor has to pay a high price: he must give up his beloved daughter and send her to live with the grotesque Beast. Beauty and the Beast is probably one of the most beautiful and poignant fairy stories a child is ever likely to read and indeed is probably now one of the most popular thanks to having been "Disneyed" to the limit by book, film and stage play. However, in this stylish and rather stunning version of the tale Geraldine McCaughrean has managed to turn back time to present a simple story which perfectly captures the true essence of the mystery and romance of young Beauty and her unlikely hero. Gary Blythe's striking oil paintings add a depth and lustre to the retelling of this classic tale, reveals the drama of the world of Beauty and her Beast with a clever blend of darkness and light which so perfectly complements the richness of McCaughrean's text. This combination makes the book perfect "read-together" material for younger children or a read-alone pleasure for older children who will revel in the magical reality of the words and pictures. Seller Inventory # 029066
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