Pam Norwood 2008-03-26

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Bought this as a gift because of the beauty of the pictures. Very unusual book -- not your normal disney-type telling and illustration of the story. Liked it.

Whiskey Sister Maggie 2008-01-10

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

I got this for my 4 year old daughter. She likes it, but it's hard for us to get through because there are facing pages without any pictures. She's a patient and attentive listener, so we made it through, and the illustrations are absolutely drool-worthy, which helps. I'd recommend for a slightly older child. Or for a mom, such as myself, who loves fairy tales.

Marc A. Frazer 2007-06-16

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

This version is vastly superior to the Disney version - essentially it's the difference between art and weak popular culture. The emotion is real and the story becomes more compelling than expected.

Elijah Chingosho 2006-02-21

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

Beauty and the Beast is a beautiful and timeless classic book for children which teach the need for kindness towards the less privileged in society. The book also teaches that being mean and unkind towards other people leads to unhappiness whilst love and kindness result in pleasant outcomes.

The story starts on a cold winter evening when a ragged old beggar bearing a rose turns up to the door of a castle asking for shelter. However, the spoiled prince turns her away. The old woman then suddenly turns into an enchantress and casts a spell over the castle and those residing there and turns the prince into an ugly beast. The rose she had offered the prince would bloom until the prince reached the age of 21. If the prince learned to love and if his love is returned before the rose petal fell, the spell would be broken.

The prince (now a beast) was angry and bitter and lost hope that anyone would ever love him. However, a chain of events developed that ultimately decided the fate of the ugly beast. Maurice, a famous inventor is lost in a forest and is chased by wild animals until he stumbles on an old castle. There he is held prisoner by the beast. Maurice's lovely daughter, Beauty, looks for him in the castle. She finds him in the dungeon of the castle and she pleads with the beast to release her father and take her prisoner instead. The beast agrees. However, eventually, when she runs away from the castle, she is attacked by a pack of wolves. The beast that was chasing her rescues Beauty from the wolves. Beauty and the beast become friends and learned to trust one another.

When Beauty was missing her father, the beast, out of kindness and sympathy, agrees to release Beauty so that she re-unites with her father. However, the villagers that Maurice was crazy when he related his story about being taken prisoner by a wild beast in a castle. Beauty showed the villagers the beast in the mirror. The village hunter sets off to kill the beast. The beast was badly wounded and Beauty rushed to help the beast and confessed that she loved it. This was just when the last petal was about to fall. With Beauty's love, the beast was changed into a handsome prince as the spell was broken. Love had transformed the prince's life forever.

The authors, Marianna and Mercer Mayer did a commendable job of coming up with a children's book with rousing images and excellent paintings that evoke mystery in people. The images and paintings expertly capture and portray emotion and feeling with detail and colour that is amazing and exciting.

Sarah E 2003-08-07

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

This retelling of the old fairy tale adds deeper emotions to the story with gorgeous, jewel-toned paintings. The portrayal of the father as a broken man, the beast as a misunderstood animal, and Beauty as all that is selfless and good in pre-modern Europe follows the timeworn pattern. Although the text does not stand out among retellings, the framed, haunting oil paintings that accompany the words on each opening as love turns the beast into a prince make the text superfluous. The images are ageless, but the text I would recommend for ages eight and up.