Beauty

Beauty by Robin Mckinley
Publisher: Harper Trophy
Copyright:1978
Number of Pages: 247
Age: 12+ years
Genre: Fantasy/Fairytale

Summary:
This is the same story of beauty and the beast. There was a man and his three daughters who lived a rich life until the father sent out his ships to do business. A storm came in and over took the ships and all but two were lost. On one of the lost ships was a man who was in love with one of the fathers daughters. Because of this loss of ships the father decided to retire and they moved away to a small house far away. The house that they moved to was the house of one of the daughters husbands.
All the daughters were named something that they possessed ie. Grace, Hope, and Honour. However, Honour didn't like her name when she was younger so she changed her name to Beauty. When Beauty grew up she found that she hated her name because she didn't think it was true at all. She thought she was plain and ugly.
One day the father went riding his horse and got lost in the forest. Once he was lost he found a trail (once you are lost in the forest everyone will find this trail, it leads straight to the castle). This trail took him straight to a castle which was known to be dangerous. The night was coming on and the father needed a place to stay so he stayed at the castle and he was taken care of. As soon as the father was leaving the next day he stopped at the front gate and saw a beautiful flower that he wanted to give to Beauty because she asked for flower seeds. As soon as the father cut the flower the Beast came towards the father and said that he was going to kill the father because he tried to steal one of his flowers. The Beast gave the father a month to be with his family then he had to return to the castle. The only way out would be that someone would have to come in his place and that person would have to live in the castle forever. Once the father returned home he told his family and Beauty said she would go. She was so stubborn that no one could convince her otherwise. So Beauty left to the castle.
Over her time there she began to fall in love with the Beast. One night the Beast showed her a magic bowl he had that he could see outside of the castle. Beauty wondered what happened to the ships that were lost. It showed one of the ships that had returned. On the ship was Beauty's sisters love. Beauty new she had to tell her sister before she married another. So the Beast let her go. Beauty rushed to tell her. Beauty then had a week to be with her family then she must return. However, Beauty stayed one extra day and as she woke to return to the castle she was overwhelmed with worry that the Beast was dead. She ran to the castle found he Beast half dead and she cried her love for him and that she would marry him. The Beast awoke and his spell was broken. He turned into a handsome prince and Beauty became his bride. Beauty's sister married her long lost love and they all lived happily in the castle.

Who would benefit from this story?
Everyone! This is an awesome story of Beauty and the Beast. It it magical and very mysterious. Its a joyful book to read.

What problems might this book cause?
None.

My reaction:
I loved this book so much! It was much better then the disney series. It was well written and it made me feel like I was there because of all the details. All the characters were wonderful and fun to read about.