This fairy tale has it all. It is set back in time when ships carried all kinds of precious cargo, gold coins, jewels, beautiful clothes and more. There was a wealthy merchant with three daughters. Two were selfish and silly. Buth the third daughter was kind and considerate and was very beautiful. She was called Beauty not just for her looks but for her kindness and thoughtfulness. One day news came that all the ships had wrecked and were lost. The two sisters wailed about now being poor. The old man went to borrow money to no avail. Word came that one of his ships wasfound so he set off to retrieve is lost fortune. The two older sisters wanted the riches but Beauty just wanted her father back safely with a rose. The old man retrieved his lost fortune and on his way home lost his way in the forrest. He came to a castle and found it to be very beautiful and full of food but noone around. He slept and the next morning the old man still didn't see anybody but saw the rose bush and picked one for Beauty. All of a sudden a fierce and ugly beast stood before him and did not like what the man had done so to spare his life the old man promised that his daughter Beauty would come back in a month.
This story has a great ending and a great moral to it. Children and adults alike could get a great lesson from it. It teaches one to look at the inside instead of just outside. To keep promises. Sometimes one is rewarded in more than one way. And things don't always end up as they think.
The illustrations are beautiful. The descriptions take you there and makes you feel one is actually living in the story. I would recommend this story for all ages . Agreat fairy tale with a great moral behind it.
