author
Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont
1711–1780
Best known for shaping the classic version of Beauty and the Beast, this 18th-century French writer brought fairy tales and moral storytelling together in a way that lasted for centuries. She also helped pioneer literature written to teach and entertain young readers, especially girls.
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 in 1711, Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont was a French author and educator whose work reached readers in both France and England. She is most often remembered for the 1756 version of Beauty and the Beast that became the best-known telling of the story.
Leprince de Beaumont wrote extensively for young audiences and is often noted for combining fiction with instruction. While working in England as a governess, she published Le Magasin des enfants, a widely recognized early collection designed to educate children through stories, conversation, and moral examples.
Across a long and productive career, she wrote dozens of works. What still makes her stand out is the clarity of her storytelling: she could be practical, imaginative, and deeply interested in how books might help shape a young reader's mind and character.