In “Little Beauty” by Anthony Browne, a trained gorilla that does sign language wanted a friend. So his keepers gave him a tiny kitten and they became the best of friends. The artistic elements are heavily weighted and varied throughout this book. The end pages were a burnt orange floral pattern which was shown in a few of the illustrations. On the dust jackets were excerpts of a short summary about the book, tells what inspired Anthony Browne to write this story, where he is from and other books that he has written and illustrated. The first end page is of a green rose with the kittens face subtly drawn in the middle, on the actual title page is a pink rose with the gorillas face subtly drawn in the middle. A lot of the illustrations are full bleed with the occasional boarder. There are quite a few close ups of the gorilla’s face which accurately displays the emotion he is feeling. All of the pictures are on a white background, some being full spread across both pages. There are a couple of pages that just have illustrations on them leaving the reader to figure out the how the story continues with no words on the page. There was one full bleed illustration of the gorilla smashing the TV in a red tint creating a violent mood and speeding up the climax of the story line. The point of view varies throughout the story, switching from the gorillas view to the keepers view to the audiences view when there are boarders. I recommend this story because the illustrations really come to life in this book, and is based off of an actual gorilla who learned sign language which would make for interesting conversation. For the second year in a row I've read Little Beauty by Anthony Browne to the Kindergarten students. All of Browne's books are filled with creativity and insight but I especially love sharing this one with 5 year olds who are ready to sign along with the gorilla, fall in love with the kitten, burst with laughter at the potty scene and shrink back in horror when it looks as though Beauty and the gorilla may be separated for ever. Only this year did I finally pick up on the whole "Beauty and the Beast" allusion. It's lovely to find new surprises in favorite picture books.
What do You think about Petite Beauté (2008)?
Cute story about a gorilla and a cat. A sweet story about friendship. My kids liked it.
—elenalove
An adorable book and a very quick read. Wonderful illustrations!
—nicharper
LOVE the pictures, the writing, however, is kind of just meh.
—sana
