author
Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont
1711–1780
Best known for shaping the version of Beauty and the Beast that generations of readers remember, this French writer helped turn moral lessons and fairy tales into lively reading for children. Her work was widely read in the 18th century and still echoes through classic literature today.
2 Audiobooks
Beauty and the Beast
by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont
Think Before You Speak; Or, The Three Wishes
by Catherine Ann Turner Dorset, Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont
About the author
Born in Rouen on April 26, 1711, Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont was a French author, educator, and editor. She wrote extensively for young readers and became especially famous for retelling fairy tales in a clear, engaging style that blended entertainment with instruction.
Her best-known work is the 1756 version of Beauty and the Beast, an abridged adaptation that became far more widely known than the earlier, longer tale by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve. Beyond that single story, she was a remarkably productive writer whose books for children and families helped shape early children's literature in France and beyond.
Leprince de Beaumont died in 1780. Today she is remembered not only as the author most closely linked with Beauty and the Beast, but also as a writer who believed stories could educate, delight, and speak seriously to young readers.