Beauty in the eye of the beholder

Jan Brett's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Putnam 2012) is a classic retelling of the fairy tale. The story of how Beauty comes to spend a year living with the beast should be familiar to many young readers from the Disney version. However, Brett sticks close to the more classic tale. Her illustrations are detailed and lush in color. The text, therefore, remains confined to the bottom of each page with pictures capturing most of the space. This would be a good choice for reading aloud to children. <180>





DAY BY DAY by Susan Gal (Knopf 2012) opens with three pigs making their way out into the world. The build a house brick by brick. They pant a garden row by row and make friends neighbor by neighbor. Check out the illustrations for little gems such as the titles of the books the pigs read at night (Charlotte's Web and The Three Little Pigs!). <181>