Beauty and the Beast is looking pretty good for its age. The story was first published as a novel called La Belle et la Bête by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve in 1740, and it probably existed in other versions way before that. It’s been a popular story for the last couple of centuries, and it’s not showing any signs of slowing down. The story has been retold through all kinds of media; novels, movies, tv shows, musicals, on ice…it’s everywhere.
In 2007 YA author Alex Flinn published Beastly, a modern retelling of the classic story, set in New York City. This year, the book was turned into a movie that’s coming out on DVD at the end of June.
Beauty and the Beast isn’t the only fairy tale that is getting this treatment. That’s what makes fairy tales so special: with a few tweaks they can work in any time and any culture. We never seem to get tired of them! At least, I know I don’t.
Here are some of my favorites:
A Curse Dark as Gold / Elizabeth C. Bunce (Rumpelstiltskin)
Beauty / Robin McKinley (Beauty and the Beast)
Cloaked in Red / Vivian Vande Velde (Little Red Riding Hood)
Princess of the Midnight Ball / Jessica Day George (The Twelve Dancing Princesses)
Mira, Mirror / Mette Ivie Harrison (Snow White)
Rapunzel’s Revenge / Shannon Hale and Dean Hale ; illustrated by Nathan Hale (Rapunzel)
For more good reads check out CLP’s Fairy Tales Retold booklist and YALSA’s Fairy Tales for Young Adults booklist.
~Eva, CLP-Allegheny
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