It is Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella (Belle has 2 mean sisters) rolled into one. Graphics could have been better. Really middle grade, I'll reread with my son

I was a little disappointed by this reading ...
Even if the illustrations were cute (it's not my favorite style), I found that the original tale was much shortened, making all of the actions in the story too rushed ...
I understand that the idea was to simplify the story to make it accessible to the youngest, but it has been simplified too much for me.

I liked the art style of this graphic novel and of course I loved the story. I just found it was too rushed and not long enough.

Fairy tales are always a safe bet, there's a reason they've stayed popular for centuries. They are useful and entertaining for children and they maintain their appeal into adulthood. And with Disney films (and now live-action remakes), today they are as known to every kid in the world.

This is certainly a plus, because I don't think a child who didn't already know the story could understand it from this comic book. It feels like the book starts halfway through the story, as if we'd arrived half an hour late at the theatre. We are told Beauty's family was rich, had servants and expensive clothes, and losing all of it is what caused them distress. But since we haven't seen this supposed life of luxury, we can't feel sad for them.

The horrible house they move to actually looks okay, which was puzzling. The stealing of the rose is confusing too: he is on his horse, he goes inside a castle (why?!) and tries to steal a base of flowers. It is incredibly weird. So is Beast's reaction: "You have a daughter called Beauty? Well, I only have one beautiful living creature, so let's make it two." And, once back home, the father doesn't seem very conflicted about having to send her daughter to a monster. This makes it hard to feel any sympathy for the dad later on.

All in all, since there's instructions on how to read the book, you'd expect this to be aimed at children who can already read, but the story's simplicity suggests this is better suited to kindergartners, so it would be read to them. But in that case, a picture book would be better than a comic. The book left me with lots of questions and no answers.

This Beauty and the Beast graphic novel has lovely artwork, and the reimagining includes POC which I enjoyed. There was an interesting blend of Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella that I though was a unique twist on the story. It did feel rushed to me, however I'm an adult, and this graphic novel is only around 20 or so pages long, which is appropriate for the young readers it is intended for.

The author included easy instruction for children on how to read a graphic novel, as well as discussion questions and writing prompts at the end that are great to help with reading comprehension and honing creative writing skills in young readers.

The instructions to create paper roses was also a cute touch, though for the age that this graphic novel would be appropriate for, illustrations of the steps to make them would have been useful.

Overall, very cute for younger readers.

This was an adorable graphic novel for children. Thanks again to NetGalley and Picture Window Books for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for feedback.

This is a children’s book that is in graphic novel format. This is great, as it allows young readers to read a book in this format, while keeping it simple as to not feel lost when reading it. It provides a cute and diverse retelling of the classic fairy tale. I was very pleased with the illustrations and how the story flowed. I can’t wait to recommend this to young readers!

The whole thing felt a bit too patronising... While, yes, Beauty and her family were POCs in this, it was all so close to the original story. I couldn't find the intended age range anywhere, so it might work for children who can't read themselves yet, but even primary school children might find it a bit boring...
I did, however, really like the art style, and the bits at the end with prompts and questions etc works really well!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader’s copy of this graphic novel for an honest review

This is a cute retelling of the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast . One of the things that really makes it unique is that Beauty and her family are POCs, which makes this more diverse and relatable.

Although this is for young children, I do however think the story was really rushed and could have been a bit longer and gone a bit more in depth into the story,

Synopsis: This is a comic retelling of Beauty and the Beast with diverse characters

Review: This book is so cute and fun I had a smile on my face all the way through. My favorite thing about this graphic novel was the art style and the poc representation. I would definitely recommend this to young children who are starting to get into reading. Even though I wasn’t the intended audience for this book I enjoyed it and think people of all age ranges would enjoy this quick read.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

This is a story about Beauty ,a girl who finds happiness in everything .

This is a story with diverse characters and I know it would become eveeyone's favourite

Thank you Netgally and the author for the gifted copy. All thoughts are completely my own.

This book is for extremely young children. Even specific to that age range I feel their intelligence has been under appreciated.

This story skips so much, I found a lot of it doesn't make sense. It jumps a lot from one scene to another but doesn't connect them. For anyone who has seen the Disney movie I think they may be left a little confused.

This is not a retelling of Beauty and the Beast it's Beauty and the Beast in graphic novel form for the earliest readers. And it's well done. Similar to Disney the story has been simplified. It's actually even simpler than Disney's version. But it works. And lots of kids will find it interesting, entertaining, and fun to look at.

An interesting portrayal of this classic fairy tale! Four stars. A sweet story to share with middle grade readers.

I thought that this book was so cute and imaginative! to see the fairy tales that I have come to love since childhood brought to life in this graphic novel.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone in need of a pick me up and any lovers of Disney and fairy tales in general!

I decided to give this book 4.5/5 stars as I felt that there was something missing that i just couldn't put my finger on! still loved it and enjoyed every page!

I think everyone is familiar with Beauty and the Beast story. This short version of the story is very soft and dedicated to young kids. I think it's a very nice graphic novel to teach children how to read. The vocabulary is simple and the letters are big enough for kids to read them. The book is short so it won't be hard for a kid to focus for too long. The art is amazing and the main character very likable.
I would recommend this book for young readers between 5 to 8 years old.

This book was a really cute and quick read. Defiantly for younger audiences and would be a good stepping stone up from picture books. However, this graphic novel didn’t have anything to make it stand out from the original fairy tale. The dialogue is rushed and this story defiantly only gives you a basic understanding of the story. I gave this one 3 stars as it definitely wasn’t a bad book but I just wasn’t the target audience for this one. I would highly recommend it for that fairy tale loving kid in your life!

"Beauty and the Beast" is one of the most well-known fairy-tales, and like many fairy-tales it underwent changes and adjustments to be as family friendly as possible - and oftentimes as simplistic too. For example, in the Villeneuve version of the tale, a fairy turns the prince into a beast because he didn't want to marry her (he was 14; she was his nursemaid), and Beauty is half-fairy, royalty, and the Beast's cousin. These details amongst others were removed in the more simplistic Beaumont version which is the most well-known version nowadays (with exception of the animated Disney movie). Child marriage, cousin marriage, and the "Arranged Marriage propaganda" status of Villeneuve's version are not exactly child-friendly.

However, while Beaumont simplified the fairy-tale, he did not remove its underlying complexity. The Disney cartoon changed many aspects of the fairy-tale too, but it is still a coherent tale with a complex plot. And both the Beaumont and the Disney version can be easily enjoyed by children because they were made with children in mind.

This graphic novel adaptation of the popular fairy-tale is aimed at children as well and breaks down the Beaumont version. Unfortunately, this break-down was done in such a poor manner that connectors and backgrounds got lost, making the story messy and rushed and difficult to follow if you do not know the fairy-tale beforehand.

On the very first page, Beauty and her sisters are introduced, and their father breaks to them the news that they are now penniless and have to move. The sisters' "names" Gritty and Petty as well as the father having been a businessman are only mentioned in the character gallery in the very beginning, not in the graphic novel itself. The circumstances how they even lost their money (the shipwreck) are left unexplained.

The part in which the father gets the rose for Beauty is quite wonky as well: In one panel, he asks if anyone's home when he is inside the Beast's castle. In the next, he is already stealing a rose - out of a bouquet in a vase, no less. Not from the rose garden like in the fairy-tale, making the father seem to be quite a dimwit: Taking a single rose from a rosebush outside is less conspicuous than breaking into someone's home and stealing their vased flowers after all. The father's meeting with the Beast becomes almost comical when the Beast yells "Bring her to me OR ELSE!" after the father as threat when he lets him go to get Beauty.

Beauty thinks Beast is scary although he is never depicted doing anything scary. Their relationship grows in a very artificial manner. When Beauty breaks the spell, the prince tells her about the witch who cursed him - but without telling her why he was even cursed in the first place.

The story is lackluster and compressed horridly into about 25 pages, and the oversimplification of the fairy-tale in this adaptation comes across as "children cannot understand more difficult stories." But they can. The Beaumont version is a "children" version. The Disney version is a "children" version. Children can understand them perfectly well. They aren't idiots. I believe when you are writing tales for children you should have faith in their intelligence. You cannot write for a certain group of people when you cannot respect them.

All I liked about this graphic novel were the character designs; however, the overall art in the graphic novel is also quite lackluster and cheap.

Instead of handing this mess of a graphic novel to your children, just get them a fairy-tale collection containing the Beaumont version.

1.25/5 stars - an absolute disappointment.

While this was cute and it is a great way to get younger readers into graphic novels, the story was very lacking. Everything happened so quickly, and it felt like a lot of the story was left out.

This retelling is for a much younger audience than I expected. It even includes a “how to read graphic novels” guide, writing prompts, and crafts at the end. It was cute but very much for the elementary age / beginner reader. Vibrant and cute graphics.

Beauty and the Beast by Jessica Gunderson

3 stars

Hi, I'm Sarah and I'm trash for Beauty and the Beast retellings. Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite stories and is easily one of my favorite fairy tale to see adapted. This was a fun little surprise that is perfect for young children! I'm also excited to see a family of color portrayed in a Beauty and the Beast retelling. This is an introduction to graphic novels for young children and since we are all quarantined this is perfect for families with little ones. There is discussion questions as well as a rose creation activity. Also, if you want to introduce your kids to fairy tales that aren't the Disney adaptation. I really thought this one was cute. It isn't really for my target audience because I'm not mom and I teach high school students, but I see so much potential with young readers, so I highly recommend it. P.S. The sisters names are Gritty and Petty. If that doesn't make you want this, then I don't know what will.


Whimsical Writing Scale: 2

Character Scale: 3

Plotastic Scale: 3

Art Scale: 4

Cover Thoughts: It gives a good idea of the illustrations.

Thank you, Netgalley and Picture Window Books, for providing me with a copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.