Beauty and the Beast is a picture book-slash-graphic novel retelling of the classic fairy tale—and I was singularly unimpressed with the actual text, and BLOWN AWAY by the illustrations.

The textual story is essentially a lacklustre regurgitation of the Disney tale, down to the "happily ever after" at the end. There are also two archetypal evil sisters, very à la Cinderella. I think this bite-sized book could've been four or even five stars for me if the story had a fresh take on an already overdone fairy tale (maybe questioned the binary of "good" (Beauty) and "evil" (sisters) a little)—but it didn't.

That being said, the illustrations were marvellous. Colourful and lush, my eyes ate up each panel (I thought the saurian Beast was a nice touch, haha). And I loved that Beauty and her family were people of colour!

Thais Damião is a genius, and reading this makes me want to seek out more of her work.


🌹Many thanks to NetGalley and Capstone for this gorgeous e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!🌹

A beautiful, enchanting and diverse retelling of the Beauty and the Beast in a graphic novel format with lovely illustrations.
It's short but very sweet.
I love these kinds of retellings and this one is perfect for kids learning to read and also older kids. It includes writing prompts and discussion questions which are perfect for school.
I would love to read more classic retellings in graphic novel format.

Honestly, I personally did not like this book at all.
The story and the sentences are rushed. The story is basically the same as the real tale, without anything to spice it up and make it unique. The things that are different are unnecessary. The length of the story and the fact that everything is rushed makes it hard to appreciate the characters. They don't have an arc. There is literally only one page where Beast is mean to Beauty, and one page where he is nice. Then, suddenly, they're in love... The images are okay, but they're not enough for me to bring my rating up unfortunately.

**ARC from NetGalley

Beauty and the Beast by Jessica Gunderson is a great graphic novel for children looking to delve into the medium for the first time. While the tale differs from the fairy tale and Disney versions of Beauty and the Beast, there is still so much to enjoy from this reimagined telling of the story. The art by Thais Damaio is cute and likely to be appreciated by young readers and adults alike. It is a quick read which is great and won't be too daunting for any child who wants to give this tale a whirl.

Lovely graphics, the plot is so simplistic that I crept thinking I missed pages. All the best parts are missing, no strife no dramatic ending. Safe for young kids.

Re-telling of the classic fairy tale for younger readers with a few twists such as step-sisters and a magic mirror. Includes directions on how to read a graphic novel and discussion questions.

This graphic novel of Beauty and the Beast is very basic as far as the story line goes, which is perfect for young readers. This would be a great introduction to graphic novels. The illustrations are beautiful. Looking forward to reading more in this series.

I didnt realize when I picked this up that it would be written for a very young audience but I think it did a good job of conveying the story in an easy and accessible way. The story followed the disney beauty and the beast fairytale closely. It was just condensed down into a very short comic with minimal dialogue and the focus being mainly on the cute art style.

This was super cute and had my little guy read this along with me! I do like that it was reimagined with a diverse cast and I appreciated the representation of a young black girl in a fairy tale. I was a little confused about the addition of a step sister and I think it all felt just a tiny bit rushed - there wasn't really a lot of development, but it for kids so I do think the length is good for those with short attention spans! I also love the addition of a little craft idea in the end. The illustrations were beautiful too!

I love fairy tales and all of their adaptations! It's great to jump into the nostalgia from my childhood, especially seeing new takes in graphic novel form.

This time around, Beauty has two sisters named Gritty and Petty (it reminds me of Cinderella - wicked sisters with awful names). The Beast is a scary, green creature. The story follows the classic fairy tale in a kid friendly way - so you most likely know the rest already.

I found this book to be very simplistic and easy to read. Kids and adults will enjoy it! The pictures are colourful and illustrate the story well, but I almost wish it was a little bit longer.

The inclusion of writing prompts, art project and discussion questions was very cute and makes it for a great educational tool.

Overall, this book is a sweet introduction to graphic novels and is a great adaptation of the classic fairy tale!

Three out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Capstone and Picture Window Books for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

This was such a quick and fun read. I loved the diversity this version of Beauty and the Beast brought. I always love seeing POC characters in a retelling of such a classic story. One more thing I enjoyed so much was the series of questions at the end of the book, they were so thought-provoking and fun to go through at the end of the story. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a light and fun version of the original Beauty and the Beast.

-- 5 stars --

Thank you Capstone and NetGalley for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. My review is my own and not influenced by others.

This was a short but nice story about Beauty and the beast. I can understand why the writer choose to left things out so children can understand the story and keep their attention to the story, however, in my opinion there were too many things left out.

Cute & short classic story of b&tb in comic form. In this version the are two selfish sisters and no enchanted house. The main points are there but there is also a lot left out. I received this ARC in exchange for a honest review from netgalley.

First of all, I would like to thank you for the ARC of this book which was kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
It is a graphic retelling of the classic fairytale beauty and the beast. A cute middle-grade graphic novel. However, It is too simplistic for my taste, yet, it should be perfect for small children, due to graphic novels vivid colours and simplicity. Sadly characters felt flat and whole story rushed through. The things I liked were the inclusion of racial diversity and questions at the end of the book.

I don't think the author brought anything new to the fairytale of Beauty and the Beast. For such a beloved story that most everyone loves most authors bring something new to it and make it their own, but Gunderson gave a very watered-down rendition that felt lacklustre, especially since children generally want fantastical things. It was overly simplified and I think it missed the main points of the story. Overall it was disappointing.

**Thanks to Netgalley and Capstone for providing me with an ARC copy of this Graphic Novel for my consideration **

This quick and sweet read is one more amazing tale of Beauty and the Beast, close to the vein of the original one and not the Disney one. The colors are vibrant and surely it will appeal to all children.

I enjoyed this one its a beautiful story a quick and easy read. I also liked the writing style. I think it's a great book for kids and they will love it. I recommend it to others.

I really enjoy fairy tale retellings and adaptations, so when I see them available for review I generally jump at the chance to read them and love them. This one was less of a hit for me than normal.

This retelling of Beauty and the Beast was a very simplified version of the story we all know. it seemed too quickly paced and it did not leave any time for character development or even the love between Beauty and the Beast to really form... which is the point of the original story. I don't think I have ever read the original, but this tale included Beauty having two sisters, kind of like the Cinderella sisters, they were rude, self-centered, and snooty and they made Beauty seem like the loving soul she is. This addition was both interesting but also a bit strange. The focus was on Beauty's family a lot more than I think should have been in this shortened and simplified version.

Things that I liked about this book were the illustration. They were bold and eye catching which is great for younger and reluctant readers. There was also a tutorial in the beginning of the book instructing on how to read comics and graphic novels for beginners - LOVED this aspect.

While not the best retelling for me, I believe that this graphic novel will be great for younger readers, reluctant readers, and maybe even those learning English as a second language.

What a beautiful book, both in the story and the illustrations. This beauty and the beast tale is definitely one I loved reading to our Ada, over a few nights. She loved the images and the story. We will read it to her again, as she grows.

This was a very short and sweet version of Beauty and the Beast. It’s a quick and easy read for kids and the entire story manages to get told. I liked the drawing style too!