Fairy tale · 声匠改编 · 4:19
Beauty and the Beast
A stolen rose, a lonely Beast and a girl brave enough to take her father's place. A gentle bedtime retelling of Beaumont's Beauty and the Beast.
Narrator
Beauty
The Merchant
The Elder Sister
The Younger Sister
The Beast
The PrinceOther languages · 2 languages
About this story
Beauty and the Beast is a French fairy tale. Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve wrote the first long version in 1740, and Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's much shorter retelling of 1756 is the one most later versions follow. This bedtime version keeps Beaumont's stolen rose, the Beast's nightly question, the magic ring and the broken promise. In Beaumont the jealous sisters are turned into stone statues at the palace gate until they mend their ways; here they get a stern talking-to instead.
What it teaches
Look past how someone appears and value who they are: kindness and goodness matter more than looks or cleverness. Beauty also learns how much a broken promise can hurt.
Suits
Ages 5–9
Tips for telling it
- Make the Beast's first roar big, then let his voice grow softer as Beauty gets to know him.
- Ask your child the Beast's question back: why did Beauty keep saying no, and why did she say yes?
- Talk about a time someone turned out kinder than they first seemed.
Questions people ask
- Who wrote Beauty and the Beast?
- Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve published the first version, a long novel-length tale, in France in 1740. Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont shortened and retold it for children in 1756, and hers is the version most people know.
- Is Beauty and the Beast a Grimm fairy tale?
- No. It is a French literary fairy tale by Villeneuve and Beaumont, written decades before the Brothers Grimm. The Grimms did collect a similar German story, The Singing, Springing Lark.
- What is the moral of Beauty and the Beast?
- Don't judge by appearances: a kind heart is worth more than a handsome face. Beaumont's Beauty chooses the Beast for his goodness, and the story also shows why promises matter.
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