Beauty and the Beast Book

This re-telling of the famous ancient myth features the usual story: a king craves the Golden Touch and lives to regret it.

The god who favors Midas with his dubious gift is usually Hermes. But here it is an (uncredited) Dionysus, replete with horns, grape vines in his hair and his signature leopard robe. He appears smiling and genial but he is huge and there's a glacial quality to his skin and a heavy-lidded gaze that imply danger. Midas himself has the look of an ordinary mortal, complete with wrinkles, a big nose, long face and heavily knuckled hands.

Midas ignores the weird creatures around him…but then again he ignores everything except gold. The problems engendered by Midas's wish creep up on him gradually but steadily until disaster strikes.

But this story is accompanied by superbe whimsical illustrations, with amusing anachronistic touches (Marygold sits down to eat a bowl of breakfast cereal called Poseidon Puffs) and odd juxtapositions between the real and the fantastical. There is a page on which we see a hippopotamus, crocodile, parrot, duck and a leopard. Underneath that we are given a centaur, faun, a scowling stone atlas and a minotaur who seems to have an issue with him. Funny stuff! The book is worthwhile for these gorgeous, unusual drawings alone, featuring an artist with a puckish sense of humor and a gift for conveying story, mood and setting.