Customer Reviews

Little Beauty

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Few can resist the art of Anthony Browne. His name on the cover guarantees sales to a multitude of parents, grandparents and doting aunts and uncles. His art is often times larger than life as is his skill in blending watercolors with stories that not only appeal to children but also often reflect feelings familiar to them.

Little Beauty is the charming story of a very unlikely friendship between a gorilla and a very small kitten named Beauty. The gorilla was extraordinary because he had been taught to use a sign language, thus he was able to tell his keepers what he wanted. He seemed to be quite comfortable with accouterment that other gorillas might only dream about. Nonetheless, he was very sad.

His keepers were puzzled until one day he signed to them, "I want a friend." They wondered what could be done as there were no other gorillas at the zoo. So, they gave him Beauty saying, "Don't Eat Her." Well, the gorilla loved Beauty, and this is the story of their friendship , as well as an excellent opportunity for youngsters to be reminded of the meaning of loyalty, protection, and love.

- Gail Cooke

I read this book to my 5 yr old little girl. We were surprised at how short the story was, and so I tried to explain the lesson of the book to her. I thought at first it was a cute little story about friendship until I realized that there was absolutely no way in hell that I was going to teach my little girl to make excuses to cover for a friend's strongly violent act. I might have looked at the story a little differently if the characters were on more of an even playing field. Since there are too many out-of-control wackos out in the world, I think it would be to my daughter's detriment if I taught her to look the other way or to take the blame when someone commits an unpredictable violent act simply to preserve a friendship. The author should have included a page after the gorilla bashed the TV that showed the kitty running into the closet to hide. Wouldn't that have been a more normal reaction? What would you do if one of your big burly friends bashed in your TV because he was angry? Is this book really telling you to stay in a relationship that could possibly turn abusive? I know I might be going over the top here, but I don't want to send my daughter any kind of message now that can be misconstrued later to mean that she should stay with any future boyfriend if he exhibits violent behavior. I might be in the minority here, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Let's not give any reason why a sequel needed to be written called "Has Anyone Seen Little Beauty?" or "Little Beauty Really Fell on a Doorknob". Seriously, what if Little Beauty truly believed it was her fault that the TV got bashed in? Now that I just thought of that perspective, I'm really not liking this book. With that kind of thinking, it's not to far to take the leap and say that "she asked for it".

My 5-year-old and 4-year-old love this book -- it's laugh out loud funny every time we read it (I won't give it away here, but bathroom humor is always good for a laugh). The pictures are beautiful. I would highly recommend this book -- I'm thinking of reading it to my son's Kindergarten class when I'm the visiting reader.

This book is beautifully illustrated. It has a wonderful, engaging beginning and then takes a sudden turn and spirals downward. It almost seems as if it were written by two different people. In short, there's an adorable gorilla who is given a sweet kitten as a friend. They are best buddies-- they do everything together, even sit side-by-side in their respective potties together! Until suddenly, this gorilla becomes furious (turns red and scary) while watching a scene from King Kong and smashes the television. His keepers respond by threatening to take his kitten away. The kitten tells the keepers that he was the one who smashed the tv, not the gorilla. The kitten covers for his buddy by lying, and therefore gets to stay with the gorilla, The End. One word describes this books derailment: bizarre. It has few words and is clearly geared toward a younger audience. While I don't believe all books for children have to have a moral, they should at least be entertaining and fun. This story sends the wrong signals and ends abruptly and awkwardly.

My 5 year old loves this book. I enjoy reading it to her. I have both books about Koko the signing gorilla. I read them to my daughter, they were both a little too wordy. They will definetly be a hit when she is a little older. For now Little Beauty is a wonderful lesson in love and friendship. The illustrations are great and we always turn the last page with a smile!

This book was purchased as a gift for a four year old who loves animals. I think he'll really enjoy the story.

TOTALLY agree with the other 1 star review. The story begins in a somewhat promising way, and then suddenly shifts in a major way and then is suddenly over. I guarantee it took Anthony Browne 5 minutes to write it, if that. It's a sad excuse for a book and appears to his lame attempt to make money easily...absolutely NO effort went into this book. Several of the pages don't even have any text, which is pathetic considering it's extremely short and the art isn't remarkable (the inside pages aren't as striking as the front page is). There is nothing clever or catchy about the text either - no rhyming, etc. There is simply nothing redeeming about this book. Lame. Lame. Lame. My husband and I both hate it, and my daughter is indifferent. With all the great children's books out there, why waste your money on this one?

My kids (ages 3 and 6) and I first read this book at the library. For a while, every time we went to the library they requested I check out this book, so I finally purchased it! It's so cute and funny, the kids giggle every time I read it.

We came across this book in the library. He loves monkies/apes/gorillas. When we started reading it, he fell in love with it. He has a speech problem and is learning sign language. The week we picked this up he was learning " I want". It was the perfect timing for this book.

The ending I think could have been a little better, but for us, this book is awesome.

A gorilla who signs seems to have everything, everything but a friend. The zookeepers give him a friend, a cat named Beauty. The gorilla loves Beauty and he takes care of her. The gorilla and beauty are happy. They do everything together, until one day the gorilla gets angry and breaks the television. When the zookeepers threaten to take Beauty away, the small cat stands up and saves the day. The gorilla and Beauty live on together happily.