Beauty and the beast china reading

Top reviews from the United States

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Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2016

I read this ONCE when I was a little girl and never forgot it. So I was thrilled when I saw it on Amazon. The book got to me in good shape and right away. The illustrations are truly beautiful, some breathtaking and the story is a lovely example of Chinese folklore as retold by Lawrence Yep. My childhood recollections were not let down. Five stars!

Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2017

I have a 14yrs old that loves this book for the last 8yrs and enjoys sitting with us as we read it to his 4yr old baby sister! It's a beautiful story with fantastic images!

Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2013

We all know different versions of Cinderella, but versions of Beauty and the Beast are a little harder to locate. In this Chinese version Laurence Yep presents with basic story with elaborate details twisting it out of Europe to Asia. Kam Mak's illustrations assist in telling the story and add depth to the imagery. A wonderful read.

Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2014

This is a beautiful book! The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous! The story is timeless and it would make an excellent gift.

Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2016

I can't really speak for the cultural accuracy of this book, but I do trust the name of Laurence Yep. They have done quite a few children's books I've loved, so I am willing to bet they did their best to get things accurate with the artist.

As for the story itself, it's you're pretty standard re-imagining of Beauty and the Beast. This is more in line with the original telling of the tale, where there's a good bit of peril and treachery for the heroine to overcome.

I'd say that, if you're looking for a book with a bit of cultural education, this isn't a good fit. It doesn't teach all that much, and the culture it shows is long since gone. Stick to books in a more modern era. But it all you want is something a bit different from your standard fairy tale, this would be a nice change.

Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2011

In this beautifully illustrated storybook, a simple Chinese farmer is suddenly grabbed by a terrifying dragon. In order to save his life, one of the man's seven daughters must agree to marry the creature. One by one, the daughters leave their father to his fate and hide in fear. Finally his youngest daughter, Seven, sets her father free by agreeing to be the dragon's bride. Of course, it turns out that there's more to the dragon than meets the eye; Seven ends up married to a handsome prince and living the good life in his magical kingdom beneath the sea. The storytelling gets a little clunky as Seven's jealous older sister tries to murder her and assume her identity, but overall the story is enjoyable and reminds readers that it's what's on the inside that really counts. My homeschooled sons and I read this as part of our unit on China; we also recommend  The Weaving of a Dream (Picture Puffins) , Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China , Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China , and  The Lost Horse: A Chinese Folktale .

Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2018

I’m feeling so frustrated trying to find stories or Asian heritage to share with my son that aren’t terrible.

This is another horrible story with violent terrible message. One day a dragon threatens to kill a man unless he gives the dragon one of his daughters to marry. Daughter 7 married the dragon and says something like he is kind on the inside. Kind people do not use coercion and threats to get someone to marry them. But whatever. The dragon is actually a handsome prince. Somehow the fact that he is handsome makes his actions ok? Daughter 7 misses her family and wants to visit them, and her prince husband “allows” it because basically she is a prisoner with Stockholm Syndrome. While visiting her family, her sister #3 is petty, jealous, and murders her so she can disguise herself as 7 and live with the prince.

7 actually wasn’t murdered — she survived and is rightly heart broken that her family betrayed her, and her idiot husband objectified her so much that he couldn’t even tell who his wife was from some other girl who was wearing his wife’s clothes. Prince does suspect that 3 isn’t 7, so he threatens to murder 7’s entire family if she doesn’t return. I can accept that 7 has Stockholm Syndrome and still loves her murdeorus, raging, cruel, controlling husband, but this is not the kind of love that should be put on a pedestal for children, especially little girls.

Maybe a child who is 16 years old could critically read this story, but this is not for children under 8.

I want the stories I share with my son to model true love — not ersatz love based on abuse, threats, coercion, and violence. I want the stories I share with my son to model cooperation and interdependence among his family and friends — not petty jealousy, competition and betrayal. I want my son to judge people’s character based on their actions. I don’t want him thinking that people are good people just because they happen to be ugly and beastly. Sometimes ugly beastly people are bad people and do bad things. Finally, I’m not a goody two shoes — if there is to be betrayal in stories, let it be for a glorious reason like world peace, not something petty like “I want to wear pretty dresses, so I’ll murder my own sister so I can.”

Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2006

I bought this book for my three year old son and he quite enjoys it because of the dragon. The vocabulary is a bit difficult but not terribly so. The story is interesting and I am sure it is a book that my son will come back to again happily when he is older.