Little Beauty by Anthony Browne
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Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library -- School Library Journal, 11/05/2008
From SLJ November 2008
BROWNE, Anthony. Little Beauty. illus. by author. unpaged. Candlewick. Nov. 2008. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-3959-4. LC 2007042581.
PreS-Gr 3–This reworking of the classic tale of a beast transformed by unconditional love depicts the protagonist as a lumbering gorilla and Beauty as a petite cat. A red rose on the title page hints at what’s to come. But wait! Alert readers will recognize this relationship, these very poses: here are Hanabi-Ko and All Ball from the real-life story of the sensitive, signing gorilla described by Francine Patterson in Koko’s Kitten (Scholastic, 1985). Browne melds fact and fiction into a story that reads simply, but offers layers. Luscious, creamy pages provide contrast for the large, well-spaced font and the dark, furry figure that often bleeds off the page. Watercolor and pencil renderings capture the animal in moments of profound loneliness and extreme anger; he reacts to King Kong by smashing the TV in a page red with rage. Zookeepers fear for Beauty’s safety, but her surprising intervention saves the day. Children will chuckle as they view the pair doing everything together, from using the bathroom to swinging from the lamp, like the mythical figure flying too close to the sun. (Bruegel’s Fall of Icarus hangs in the background.) Browne’s exquisite interpretation of a real-life gorilla is a welcome progression.
