Beauty and the Beast - Retold by Mary Hoffman - Illustrated by Anna Currey

Oct 13, 2026

A retelling of Beauty and the Beast and other stories follows a once-prosperous merchant whose fortune collapses, forcing his family from a comfortable town life to a hard rural existence. Beauty, kind and resilient, faces jealousy from vain sisters and later makes a troubling request for a rose. Her father’s journey reveals a mysterious castle and dangers that build toward a transformative encounter, blending moral lessons with classic fairy-tale adventure.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages36

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

Beauty and the Beast

The merchant’s downfall

Beauty’s rose request

The mysterious castle

水 # Beauty andthe Beast and other stories Retold bgIllustrated byMary HoffmanAnna Currey First published 2000 in The Macmillan Treasury of Nursery StoriesThis collection first published 2010by Macmillan Children's Booksa division of Macmillan Publishers Limited20 New Wharf Road,London N19RRBasingstoke and OxfordAssociated companies throughout the worldwww.panmacmillan.com ISBN:978-0-230-74993-1 This collection copyright ◎Macmllan Publishers Limited 2010Text copyright ◎Mary Hoffman 2000 and 2010Illustrations copyright O Anna Currey 2000 and 2010Moral rights asserted. Every effort has been made to trace the owners of any copyright material in this book butif any have been inadvertently overlooked the publishers will be pleased to make thenecessary arrangements. All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced,stored in or introducedinto a retrieval system,or transmitted in any form,or by any means(electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording or otherwise)without the prior written permissionof the publisher.Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publicationmay be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. 135798642 A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. MACMILLAN CHILDREN'S BOOKSBeauty andthe Beastand other storiesRetold byIllustrated byMary HoffmanAnna Currey Beautyand the Beast There was once a rich merchant who had six children:three sons and three daughters.He happily spent hismoney on their education and they all had fine clothesand valuable ornaments and jewellery.They were allgood-looking young people,but the youngest daughterwas the most attractive of all ofthem.When she was small,she was known as "the little beauty"and the name stuck.She had no name but Beauty. This did not make her popular with her two sisters,who were not very nice-natured.They were jealous of Beauty and the Beast 5 Beauty,who was as kind and sweet as she was pretty.Theolder sisters were very vain and proud and wouldn’t haveanything to do with the other merchants'daughters. They were often courted by young men,since theywere handsome,but they always said,“Oh,no,wewouldn’t marry anyone lower than a Duke!"Beauty had her admirers,too,but she just said,"Thank you,but I am too young tomarry.I want to stay with myfather a few years more.”Then disaster struck.Themerchant's ships were all lostat sea,with all his goods uponthem.He had to sell his fine house in town and his carriage and retire to a small farm he owned in the country.Themerchant and his sons now worked long hours on theirland and there was no money for luxuries. It took Beauty a few weeks to adjust to her new life.She didn't miss the balls and the dancing and the finedresses,but it was hard to get up at four every morningand light the fires and cook the food for the family.ButBeauty did all this and grew strong,while her sisters stayed in bed till ten o'clock and spent the whole day lamentingtheir loss of fortune. Then,one day,a message reached the merchant thatone of his ships had survived and was coming into anearby port.The old man's heart leapt to think that hemight recover some of his money and perhaps relieveBeauty of some of her household burdens.His two oldestdaughters thought only of regaining their finery andasked him to bring back ever so many trinkets andfripperies from the town. "What about you,Beauty?"asked her father.“Is therenothing you would like?" Beauty thought hard,because she didn't wanther father to spendany of his regainedmoney on frivolities.“I should likea rose,Father,"she said at last,thinking shewas asking forsomething simple Beauty and the Beast 7 and little knowing how much trouble it would cause. Well,the merchant rode to the port and his ship hadindeed returned,but his debts were so great that he had tosell everything on board it to pay for them.There wasnothing left over for even a scrap of lace for a flightydaughter

FAQs

Who is the main character in Beauty and the Beast?

Beauty is the youngest daughter and the central figure in the story. She is described as kind, sweet, and the most attractive of the six siblings.

Why does the merchant lose his wealth?

His ships are lost at sea, taking his goods with them. He later suffers increased trouble and debts related to the one surviving ship returning.

What does Beauty ask her father for after the family’s hardship begins?

Beauty asks for a rose, requesting something simple. The story notes she did not understand how much trouble it would cause.

Oct 13, 2026

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