Oryx Multicultural Folktale Series – serie

This volume offers 28 versions of the fable of "Beauty and the Beast", with minimal adaptations from Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and America. Afterwards, the author discusses Disney''s film version of this familiar theme of a lonely beast transformed by the magic of human love.

The famous tale from the Brothers Grimm included in this book is only one of the stories from around the world about a very diminutive but resourceful character trying to earn his or her place in the world. This international collection of stories revolves around a surprisingly frequent theme: an extremely tiny child who starts out in life either unwanted or humorously accident prone. A quest begins, often initiated by one of these accidents or by a spectacular event that could only befall someone two inches tall. The character must use wit, heroics, and even trickery, to survive a series of adventures that are sometimes exciting--sometimes harrowing.