Beauty and the Beast Book

After reading Betsy Hearne's Beauties and Beasts - an international collection of folktales that incorporate the theme of the beastly, or enchanted spouse - recently, I've been considering doing a Beauty and the Beast reading project. Yes, yes, I know: another of my themed reading extravaganzas! But this fairy-tale, and its many variants, has always had a special place in my heart, and I think it would be fascinating to examine the diverse ways in which different authors and illustrators have interpreted it. Jan Brett being an immensely popular picture-book artist, I thought her retelling would be as good a place to start as any.

This retelling of the classic French tale of Beauty and the Beast features the intricate illustrations one would expect from Brett, from the gorgeous costumes to the appealing animals characters. Rather than use decorative borders to foreshadow, and tell more of her story (as she so often does), here Brett contrasts her foregrounded scenes, in which Beauty and her animal companions engage in a variety of activities, with her backgrounded tapestries, which (as careful readers will soon realize) depict the animals as they would appear, sans enchantment.

Like a friend and fellow reader, I think Brett made some smart aesthetic choices in her Beauty and the Beast, concentrating on animals (always one of her strengths), and cleverly working a dual narrative into the artwork itself. I also appreciated the fact that her Beast is a boar, rather than the more "traditional" bear-like creature - a clear tribute to the work of Walter Crane (as noted in the jacket blurb). I was a little less impressed with the text, and the changes Brett had to make, in order to incorporate the animal servants (I think I prefer the "breezes" that appear in some other retellings). All in all, a lovely retelling, though not my favorite.