A Tale of Two Beasts

So the other night Peyton and I were at our local YMCA and there happen to a be a book fair going on! We LOVE book fairs. While Peyton was attending her swim lesson I went and checked out the books and picked up a few for our collection. The Tale of Two Beasts by Fiona Roberton instantly caught my attention. I just LOVE the cover! How cute is that little girl peeking from behind the tree at the little beast playing in another tree?

The Tale of Two Beasts is unlike any of the children’s books we’ve read. It’s basically two separate stories. One from the little girl’s perspective and one from the little beasts. While the girl thought what she was doing was thoughtful and nice the beast thought it was mean and tortuous.

I thought this was a wonderful story for little kids. I can see so many conversations that can build off this story. Like how people perceived someone’s actions. How words or action can be misunderstood or how two people can see the same thing and walk away with different thoughts. Fiona Roberton did a fabulous job at keeping the story light and entertaining but still working in learning lesson for the young readers.

My daughter’s favorite part was how the little girl wrapped up the beast and took care of him. It made her think of how she wraps up our cat, Sebastian, and carts him around the house. Then she started thinking of how Sebastian probably sees it. I have definitely seen her be much more gentle with our cat since reading this story.