Beauty and the Beast

by H. Chuku Lee, Pat Cummings (Illustrator)

Overview

In this remarkable retelling of Beauty and the Beast, award-winning illustrator Pat Cummings creates an enchanted fairy-tale world flavored by the art, architecture, and culture of West Africa, while writer H. Chuku Lee stays true to the story of this beloved classic. With breathtaking palatial settings inspired by the Dogon tribe of Mali and dazzling costumes reminiscent of the clothing seen on Cummings's own trip to Africa, Beauty and the Beast becomes so much more than just a story—it's a visual and cultural experience.

When her father is taken prisoner by a fearsome Beast, Beauty begs the captor to take her instead. The Beast agrees, locking her away in his palace. Though he will give her whatever her heart desires—jewels, gowns, her own living quarters—she is forbidden to leave. Over time, however, Beauty sees the gentler side of the Beast, and an unexpected bond forms. But will it be strong enough to break a curse that threatens the Beast's life?

Supports the Common Core State Standards

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780688148195
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	02/11/2014
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	994,094
Product dimensions:	13.60(w) x 13.50(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	AD860L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Pat Cummings was born in Chicago but grew up traveling with her military family all over the world. She has been writing and illustrating children's books since she graduated from Pratt Institute and is the author and/or illustrator of more than forty books. In addition to her art for the Coretta Scott King Award winner My Mama Needs Me by Mildred Pitts Walter, Pat's luminous work includes Angel Baby; Clean Your Room, Harvey Moon!; and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winner Talking With Artists. She teaches children’s book illustration and writing at Parsons School of Design, the New School, and Pratt Institute. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can visit her online at www.patcummings.com.

Editorial Reviews

12/02/2013
The husband-and-wife duo of Lee (making his picture book debut) and Cummings (Clean Your Room, Harvey Moon!) set their retelling in an unnamed part of Africa, reimagining the story’s castle and surroundings in a distinctly African idiom. Beauty’s hair is braided in cornrows and decorated with shells and beads; the Beast, pictured with thick brown fur and a wild mane of hair, has rows of lines painted on his face and across his hairy nose. The story, though, is largely unchanged. Beauty narrates, repeating one sentence like an incantation. The Beast is generous and the castle lovely, she admits, “But... I could not leave.” She’s saved, as in the traditional version, by admitting that she has grown to love the ugly monster, at which point the sentence changes. “Now,” she says, “I would not leave!” Beauty’s appearance will draw readers of color who long for fairy tale heroines who look more like themselves, and the moment in which it is revealed that the ugly Beast’s true self is a young, handsome African prince is unexpectedly powerful, too. Ages 4–8. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

Ethnically rich retelling. Readers who attend to detail will delight.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Beauty’s appearance will draw readers of color who long for fairy tale heroines who look more like themselves...Unexpectedly powerful.” — Publishers Weekly

“Lushly detailed paintings. The retelling is crisp, the drafting is skillful, and the compositions are dramatic. — The Horn Book

“Beautifully executed illustrations with influences from ancient Dogon buildings of Mali. Lee’s retelling provid[es] a fresh approach that demands consideration for all collections.” — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

Lushly detailed paintings. The retelling is crisp, the drafting is skillful, and the compositions are dramatic.

The Horn Book

01/01/2014
Gr 3–6—Set in West Africa, this ageless tale of love kindled through the graciousness and devotion of an outwardly hideous "Beast" is smartly narrated in clipped, contemporary first person by Beauty, the youngest and most devoted of four daughters, who asks her father for a rose, while her sisters request a list of finery. ("How could I know his promise to bring me a single rose would change all our lives forever?") Beautifully executed full- and double-page folk-style illustrations combine the vivid hues of watercolor, the softness of pastel, and the texture of gouache. Bold African patterns; elegance in design of clothing, jewelry and coiffures; and the unique architectural style of the Beast's enchanted palace, with influences from the ancient Dogon buildings of Mali, add to the book's distinctiveness. The palace's invisible servants watch from eyes in a cabinet's wood grain, stone faces on pillars, and masks on the walls. Lee's retelling retains the major elements of the original story while providing a fresh approach that demands consideration for all collections.—Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker Public Library, OH

School Library Journal

★ 2013-11-20
A brown-skinned Beauty--what a refreshing change! Cornrows, braids and beads, Afro puffs and twists. No, it's not an African-American hair magazine; these are some of the hairstyles that Beauty and her sisters sport in Cummings and Lee's ethnically rich retelling of an old, typically Caucasian favorite. The Beast's family crest, an intricate figure on the title page that strongly resembles a West African Adinkra symbol, sets the stage for this picture book's all-black cast of characters. Though Lee recounts the familiar French version in the text, beginning with the cover image, the illustrations affirm the beauty of this lithe girl of African descent and even of her mean-spirited sisters. Cummings' illustrations convey so much detail that even the pre-transformation Beast seems beautiful…in his own way. Because of these culturally specific visual dynamics, the handsome visage of Beast-turned-prince comes as no surprise. Readers who attend to detail will delight in the Beast's fierce animal topiaries and in a plethora of beastly faces found in unlikely places such as the backs of chairs, masks hanging on the walls and the cedar chest in Beauty's room. This lovely reimagining of an old tale affirms the browning of American's contemporary young readership. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews