Beauty and the Beast and Other Fairy Tales

by Bob Blaisdell, Charles Perrault, Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont

It was long ago and far away that a French governess told her little pupils a wonderful story called Beauty and the Beast, about a pretty girl's love for a gentle but physically repulsive creature. That charming eighteenth-century tale of the transformative power of love has enchanted generations of readers and listeners to the present day. The story's fame has spread around the world in recent years via a classic animated film and a popular Broadway musical. Now this new edition of Beauty and the Beast will continue to captivate young audiences with its timeless appeal.
In addition to the title tale, this volume includes five stories by Charles Perrault, the noted French author and compiler of fairy tales. These include Blue Beard, the gripping legend of a curious bride and her ladykiller husband; Puss in Boots, in which a destitute miller's son trusts in his clever cat and receives a royal reward; and Little Tom Thumb, the adventures of a fellow who's small of stature but ample in wit. A pair of Perrault's lesser known tales are also included: The Fairies, a fable of kindness rewarded, and Ricky of the Tuft, an engaging story of the relative nature of beauty and wisdom.
Brimming with humor, drama, and fantasy, these six stories appear here in complete and unabridged form, each with an original full-page illustration by Kristine Bollinger.

Genres: Childrens

96 pages, Paperback

Published November 24, 2011

About the author

Bob Blaisdell is a published adapter, author, editor, and an illustrator of children's books and young adult books. He teaches English in Brooklyn at Kingsborough Community College. He is a reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle and Christian Science Monitor and the editor of more than three dozen anthologies for Dover Publications. Email him at Robert.Blaisdell@Kingsborough.edu

Reviews

[Leslie Carnahan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd never read the original story of Beauty and The Beast. Quite different I must say. However, the story of Blue Beard REALLY was creepy. My goodness.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the idea of combining together similar regional authors who specialize in similar type of stories, especially when combining the more famous Perrault with the lesser known Marie LePrince de Beaumont who was the creator of an even greater known fairytale.

The writing is simple and close to large print that it is easy to read while each story was offered an accompanied uncolored picture. Even with the picture included I wouldn't recommend this for younger children but probably young adults due to some of the stories were kind of too graphic as these aren't Disney but the way the stories were originally written.

And although Perrault is more known for his Cinderella, that particular story wasn't included but instead some of his lesser known works, which was refreshing for a change. And although Beauty & the Beast did have some morals within them it wasn't obvious while the morals of the other stories were put in nice rhyming pairs at the end of each of Perrault's..

Loved the simple easiness of the reading while can't wait to get my hands on some of the other Dover Classics fairytales to see how they broke those ones up. Too bad these books aren't selling still for the price they were originally sold for :(

[WSL Library]

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