Think there's just one fairy tale with a beautiful girl and a monster? Think again! Cultures all around the world have their own Beauty and the Beast stories. Visit France, China, and Switzerland, to find out who asks for a grape instead of a rose, and whose beast is a snake.
Cari Meister has written more than 130 books for children, including the Tiny series (Penguin) and the Fast Forward Fairy Tales series (Scholastic). Cari is a school librarian and she loves to visit other schools and libraries to talk about the joy of reading and writing. Cari lives in the mountains of Colorado with her husband, four boys, one horse, and one dog. You can find out more about her at The fourth girl in a family of 8 children, Colleen Madden made it through childhood pretending to be a space princess with a wookie sidekick and drawing in her cardboard box art studio. Colleen spent some time acting and training at The Second City in Chicago, then went on to graduate from a small liberal arts school in Massachusetts, with a contract major in illustration and English literature. She is currently residing in the Philadelphia area, with her writer-husband, and their 2 sons. She has illustrated for many different kinds of clients and is the recipient of an International Greeting Card Louie Award. When not illustrating, Colleen can be found long distance running, making her boys giggle, and eating lots and lots of sushi. Iva Sasheva is a master printmaker, painter, sculptor and book illustrator. Her first exhibition at the age of 13 was followed by a number of solo and group shows in Europe and America. As an artist she has contributed her work to more than 25 feature films and collaborated with authors in the creation of several graphic novels, literary novels, and children's books.