Snowbear Whittington: An Appalachian Beauty and the Beast

by William H. Hooks, Victoria Lisi (Illustrator)

A retelling of Beauty and the Beast, set against the backdrop of the Smoky Mountains, follows the story of Nell, a beautiful and industrious young woman captured by a huge beast, who is really a bewitched young man forced to live half his time as an animal.

Genres: Picture Books, Fairy Tales, Childrens, Beauty and The Beast, Fiction, Fantasy, Retellings

56 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1994

About the author

Director of Publications at Bank Street College of Education

He collects folklore and lives in New York City

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really (and in particular for my folklore interested adult self, although my inner child also glowingly and readily agrees) have simply adored William H. Brooks' Snowbear Whittington, and mostly because Brooks' oh so wonderful Appalachian adaptation of the globally popular and celebrated Beauty and the Beast folktale type actually also contains very many elements of the Norwegian East of the Sun and West of the Moon and furthermore reminds me at least somewhat of the Russian folktale of Finist the Falcon Prince as well (and which, in turn, totally made me strongly recall that very same East of the Sun and West of the Moon folktale the first time I read Finish the Falcon Prince in a collection of Russian tales that had been translated into German). So yes, Snowbear Whittington is thus to be seen and approached as a typical "questing beauty" type of fairy or folk tale, where Nell, the bride of the animal bridegroom (a huge white bear) must actively search and fight for his deliverance, and it is Nell's love and her never wavering loyalty which finally win through and save Snowbear Whittington from his enchantment and curse.

And sorry, but honestly and contritely, I must admit that I do somewhat have a feeling that this here review for Snowbear Whittington must sound rather trite and lacklustre, but indeed, I have found William H. Hooks' narrative, his presented story Snowbear Whittington so wonderfully and evocatively penned, so delightfully recounted and the story also so gorgeously and gracefully illustrated by Victoria Lisi that I am having a hard time finding the correct review words to even remotely do Snowbear Whittington any true justice. Furthermore and also finally, the informative author's note is an appreciated and added bonus (and absolutely cementing my five star rating for Snowbear Whittington), showing very clearly and precisely that Appalachian culture and lore, while of course unique in many ways, is also often if not even generally a combination of many different Western European based original tales, beliefs, motifs and which of course travelled with the immigrants and settlers from Europe to the so-called New World, to what is now known as Appalachia. Highly recommended for anyone interested in folk and fairy tales, and not only for children either!

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much to my surprise I loved this folk tale, a version of Beauty and the Beast, supposedly from Appalachia, though I saw little Appalachian in it. I wonder whether the tale is really told in that region as it is here.

The illustrations, both color and black & white, were wonderful, not in a style I’d normally consider a favorite, but they really worked for me here. The paintings and drawings of nature, the bear, people’s facial expressions and general expressiveness, are very realistic, yet fairy tale like too, and they’re beautiful.

The story (as many folk tales do) broke my heart at times, but this is a wonderful telling; it is now a favorite version of the beauty and the beast tale. I love how nobody is a villain (except the off the page witch who cast the spell) and I appreciate the love shown all around. I thought the progression of the story worked really well, including the girl, Nell, knowing very early on the true identity of the bear/man. Nell is a wonderful character, as are they all, even some of the peripheral characters.

This is a lovely book, both the story and illustrations.

Other than reference to the Smoky Mountains and its depiction in the illustrations and some vague things in the story, I’m left wondering about the origins of the version of this tale. I’d have appreciated an author’s note in the front or back of the book explaining how it came to be written and whether or not it has a history.

This is one of the 7 books chosen for this month’s Picture Books Club at the Children's Books group, where this month’s theme is North American folk tales.

ETA: There is an author's note at the beginning of the book that a friend pointed out to me, and it does give a little information about how this tale traveled originally from Europe to Appalachia.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Appalachian* retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" came so highly recommended to me by several GoodReads friends and was the subject of a delightful discussion over in the Children's Books Picture Book Club so I was afraid the story would not live up to the "hype" when my copy finally (finally!) arrived. Thankfully, I was wrong.

This is a beautiful, touching folktale--a fairytale in every sense of the word, from the engaging, slightly over-dramatic storytelling to the luscious, dreamy (but still deeply human) illustrations. The words and illustrations work together to create the overall effect of the story, which is what a really great picture book does, IMO. The illustrations are an enchanting mix of small black and white sketches and full-color, two-page spreads.

As for the story itself, it's a charming variation on "Beauty and the Beast" You won't find singing teapots or a full-time beast here, but you will find a kind-hearted young man cursed to spend half of each day as a beast (a giant white bear), and one that is not always so easy to be around. And you'll find a girl with a heart of gold and tears so pure they have the power to change lives. I enjoyed how the romance developed and also the care the girl showed to her family. I was a bit disappointed in how the resolution played out (I couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for one minor character, who came into the story at the end and was a bit ill-used, even if unintentionally so) but otherwise it was a charming story about overcoming mistakes, looking beyond the obvious, and the redemptive power of love.

*I must say there is really not much "Appalachian" about the telling, except that it takes place in the Smokey Mountains and perhaps some of the attire and furnishings could be from that region. But, there is an author's note that explains how the story traveled to the Appalachians from Europe.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

My library's edition of this retelling of two similar tales has the copyright page, presumably the location of the author's note that someone else mentioned, cut out. Too bad, as I really want to read it.

This seems to be missing some of the archetypal power of the original stories: In 'Beauty and the Beast' the girl does not know that the beast is a man, and in 'East of the Sun, West of the Moon' her quest is truly arduous, with iron shoes and trolls. The absences detract from my enjoyment.

[Mary Catelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A variant of East of the Sun, West of the Moon to be more precise, but then, that wouldn't be recognized.

Very good illustrations. Some motifs I haven't seen before in this tale type.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beauty and the Beast meets East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon in this immensely engaging, gorgeously illustrated fairy-tale from the Appalachians. When a poor father of three plucks a forbidden Winter Rose, intending to give it as a gift to his beloved youngest daughter, Nell, he finds himself pursued by a terrible white bear, who demands a high price in return. Terrified, but determined to aid her father, Nell sets out with the creature, eventually finding herself at his mountaintop palace, where it is revealed that he is Snowbear Whittington, cursed by a witch to spend half of his time in bear form. As time passes, Nell eventually comes to care for her new mate, who assumes the shape of a man by night, but her careless words, when visiting her ill father, could separate them forever. When Snowbear Whittington disappears, can she find him and win him back...?

I have encountered this Appalachian variant of the Beauty and the Beast tale type before, in Betsy Hearne's Beauties and Beasts , a collection of twenty-seven tales from around the world, as well as Richard Chase's Grandfather Tales: American-English Folk Tales (it appears as "Whitebear Whittington" in both of those collections), but William H. Hooks' title is the first picture-book retelling I have encountered. How glad I am that it was one of our August selections, over in The Picture-Book Club to which I belong, as it has been on my "to-read" shelf for a while now, and I finally found the impetus to pick it up. The tale itself is well-told and involving, and Victoria Lisi's illustrations are simply beautiful. I think I need to own a copy of this gem!

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely Appalachian version of Beauty and the Beast, with exquisite illustrations.

[Abby Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book, with lovely pictures every little girl should have a chance to look at growing up.

I'm very sad this is pretty much out of print now!

When I was little, I LOVED the film "The Polar Bear King" and obviously the cover looks a lot like it (they are based on similar Fairytales), which I think is what originally drew me to it. But it's probably the art style and the American setting that makes this version truly unique.

[Ronyell · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Snowbear Whittington" is an Appalachian folktale that is based off of "Beauty and the Beast." In this tale, a young and beautiful girl named Nell must live with an intimidating white bear after her father takes a Christmas rose from the bear's flower patch. Afterwards however, Nell soon discovers that the bear is a cursed man named Snowbear Whittington and she soon falls in love with him. However, one day, Nell wanted to go back home, but she must promise the bear that she should not reveal the bear's true name to anyone. Will Nell keep her promise and will Snowbear Whittington ever change back into a man? Read the book to find out!

This was the first Appalachian folktale that I have ever read and William H. Hooks has done a great job at making this story extremely exciting and dramatic at the same time. What I loved the most about this book are the characters and Nell's character is the one that stood out the most as she is shown as a caring and devoted girl as she is strongly devoted to finding the cure to Snowbear Whittington's curse and I loved the devotion that Nell gives to Snowbear Whittington, despite his current condition. Another character that I was fond of was Snowbear Whittington as he was shown as an intimidating bear at first but when Nell got to know more about the human version of him, she realizes that the bear truly does have a good heart. I really admired Victoria Lisi's illustrations as they are both beautiful and detailed, especially when the book is set up as two pages have mainly writing on it with a few images and then the next two pages are full of images that details the events that happens in the story, which is similiar to the book set up of The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs. The illustrations that stood out the most was the image of Nell being carried off by a dozen blackbirds over a raging river and Victoria Lisi did a great job at making the sky look foggy and the river look very fluid and beautiful.

I really enjoyed "Snowbear Whittington" since it is dramatic and exciting, have beautiful illustrations by Victoria Lisi and is a different retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon which I believe that most children will definitely enjoy. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up due to the length of the book which might bored smaller children.

[Karol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story, wonderful illustrations. Somehow, the telling of this folk story didn't capture my imagination at all. But then, fairy tales where a young lady's love transformed a frog into a prince, or a beast into a handsome man, never did anything for me either.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not well written and just ends abruptly.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I saw this online, an Appalachian beauty and the beast retelling, set in the mountains of my state, I just had to read it.

For some reason, as I read this, I kept expecting it to follow East of the Sun, West of the Moon. Probably because there's a white bear on the cover. That's what initially drew me to this; I thought it was that tale. Even with this being Beauty and the Beast, I thought it was a mix of both tales, and was very different from Beauty and the Beast in places, especially at the end.
The mix of two different tales didn't work for me, as it usually doesn't. At times, I wanted it to be more like East, and others it could have been more like Beauty & the Beast. Probably would have been better to stick with one fairy tale.

The name Snowbear Whittington is quite a mouthful. Snowbear is clearly not a human name, and would be what he's called in bear form, so I wondered why he didn't have a human first name in here.

This story is always a case of the special snowflake. The heroine does chores around the house while her sisters complain during the winter. They ask for silk dresses even though their family is poor, and they don't have the money. Nell, of course, doesn't ask for frivolous things, and asks for roses instead. It seemed very negligent for the dad to buy two of his daughters nice presents, and only get Nell what she asked for(some flowers), while knowing they'd have to go without food. That's just ridiculous.

I didn’t expect Snowbear to turn into a man, tell her he’s cursed, and then ask if she prefers him to be a bear at night or during the day.
We flip to the next page and Nell all of a sudden has fallen in love with him. Right after meeting him. From one page to the next. We don’t know how long she’s been there, if they talk, and have gotten to know each other.

In here, she can’t tell his name, or the spell would have him remain a bear all the time.

Her family knew she left with a bear, yet her sister Kate says “tell us about your husband!” when Nell goes home, and asks a dozen times a day. We don’t know how long she’s been home; this book doesn't capture time at all. And when did she tell them she's married?
When her dad was well, she said she’d be returning, and he wanted to know the name of her husband to be put at ease. Kind of odd to just ask after the name and not his character or how he treats your daughter. That's more important than his name. I know that it’s how the story goes, but it’s just annoying how the heroines always do what they promised they wouldn’t. Because there isn’t internal thoughts and this isn’t in-depth, we don’t get to hear her inner thoughts of any indecision about telling him the name. There’s no hesitation. She doesn't even think of not saying it.

Then it hit me: people called him her husband, yet when did they get married? She left to live with him, but nowhere did they actually get married. And it would have to be at night when he’s a man.
And who married them?

I couldn’t believe it when Nell catches up with Snowbear, her ‘husband’, to find him amidst a group of washer girls, and says he’ll marry the one who can wash the stains from his shirt. If he’s already married, how can he marry someone else, unless they practiced bigamy in the mountains then?
If I had traveled all day looking for my husband to find him proposing marriage to someone else, I’d walk away through the mountains quietly as if I was never there and leave him to the curse. Good luck, pal.

The story just got a bit crazy after that. Nell hides her face and gets in line to wash the shirt. Yet the girl in front of her somehow washes the stains from the shirt. How is this possible when the heroine is supposed to be the only girl who can wash the shirt?
Nell follows Snowbear and the girl as they head to her cabin, and I just didn’t know what in the world was about to happen. Like they were going to consummate the wedding or something…Pretty messed up.
Snowbear changes into a bear on the way, or who knows what might have happened then. The girl screams and flees inside the cabin. Nell rushes out, uses the last acorn. Her tears splash ‘red as heart’s blood’, as every tear did in the book, cracks the gold acorn, and Christmas roses pour out onto the bear.
The spell makes sense at the end: “When heart’s blood spills on purest gold, the spell will lose its desperate hold.”
Kind of an odd spell, red-colored tears having to land on gold. 'Ol Whittington surfaces from the flowers, says “your love has broken the spell” and “come, let’s go home again” and that’s it. No apology or explanation for giving up on her and planning to marry someone else. No apology from her for breaking her promise. No more dialogue between them.
I always find Disney movies and fairy tales to be severely lacking, with the 'romance' being very shallow and superficial. Of course, I'm a romance reader, so I like a nice development of love. And I do realize that because this is a kid's version, it's shortened down.

The bear kept changing appearances. I didn’t look too closely at the cover beforehand, and assumed because it was white that it was a polar bear like the east of the sun, west of the moon story is. But then I looked more closely and saw it looked like a grizzly bear. Idk why it was white; it could have been brown since it clearly wasn’t a polar bear. To be in the Appalachians, it would be more accurate to be a black bear.
On the page with the bear crying after she asked to go home, it looked more like a dog, not like a bear at all.

I thought the old woman was evil, the witch who cursed Snowbear. I was surprised when she ended up helping her, by giving her three magic nuts. I kept expecting Nell to use all the nuts, and not have them when she really needed it. Crows flying out of one of the nuts, and carrying her on a branch across the river was a bit much.

I realized a few days after finishing that the witch who cursed him never showed up in here, which is really disappointing. The evil person always has to be vanquished, and we need to see it happen. It's very lacking that that wasn't in here.

I found this lacking and was disappointed by it. There are better tales than this. It’s never enough on the romance. I wish this had more depth.
The illustrations were ok, but some were black & white, and I wish they had all been in color.

[Kara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Squishes together too many stories in too little space with some god awful illustrations. Urgh.

[Betty Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story was like a mix of East of the Sun, West of the Moon and Beauty and the Beast- though sadly I didn't find it as enjoyable as either tale.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

The name is pretty stupid; it reminds me of Paddington the bear or something. But it is so cool that it's an Appalachian story of beauty and the beast, because the Appalachian mountains run through my state and I love the East tale. I just recently read East by Edith Pattou which I love.

The inside covers are so pretty with the blueish, greenish mountains and the snowy ground and trees, with the bear prints going over the hill, and the back with the spring grass and flowers.

The plot sounded bizarre, with her dad picking a flower that was forbidden and her leaving with the owner of the flower, a bear who's a guy called Snowbear Whittington. Wow. Definitely not the plot I'm familiar with.

I love that the setting is in the Smoky Mountains.

I hated that it was written in poem form, non-rhyming but still annoying. I hated the format!

Nell's sisters are materialistic and vain, and ask their dad for dresses, while Nell asks for a rose. When he plucked one a voice said that now he owed him, and he has to give him what he meets at the gate. That's really odd to assume he would meet something at the gate.

It's funny he was called an old man because he didn't look old at all.

The dad wondered who would want the old dog that meets him at the gate, but of course we knew it would be Nell. It was sweet that he told her to go back.

I liked the pages with just pictures because they broke up the plain pages with just text and the other black and white images.

Nell just all of a sudden announced she had to go with the beast because she was the one who asked for the rose.

It was bizarre that when she cried along the journey her tears turned red when they hit the bear's back.

In a strange twist, once they reached the castle, the bear turned into a man and shared that he was cursed with a spell by the Winter Witch when he had picked her roses...very weird. And it only lasted half the time. He asked if she wanted him to be a bear at night or during the day. I admit to mentally chortling at that as my mind went straight to the gutter. Tehehe.

The guy has white hair which was a real shocker. Just because he's a white bear doesn't mean he needs to have hair the same color, that makes him look like an old man!

She chose to have him a bear during the day, saying they'd manage, but she'd be afraid of him as a bear at night. That and other reasons...or was it just me thinking that?

She fell in love with him "and her nights were happy." What does that mean? Cue the suggestive music.

There was a confusing riddle that the witch left him with. "When heart's blood spills on purest gold, the spell will lose its desperate hold."

I did feel bad for the bear that he had a tear rolling down his cheek as she said she had to go to her dad, who was ill. But he looked more like a wolf than a bear. The ears were too big and pointed and not at the right place on the head to be a polar bear.

The deal was that she couldn't say his name, or else he'd be a bear all the time, which was weird.

Her sisters wanted her to tell them about her husband. When did they get married? Who married them? You can just decide to be married because you love someone??

Of course her dad wanted to know the name of her husband. She wanted her dad to feel better so she told him his name. She heard a groan of pain and went outside to see the bear. He told her she'd broken her promise and betrayed him and he ran away. There were red marks on his back and I didn't understand what the marks meant.

It hit me in the middle, when the bear stood growling on the hill after she ruined it, that we don't even have white bears. And it totally looked like a white grizzly bear. The shape was bulky and muscular and way too big to be a polar bear, just totally wrong.

She followed the bear and saw a white bird, that she followed. It stopped at a cabin where an old lady lived. She said she'd seen a young man with blood stains on his shirt. How was he a man if the curse was that he'd turn into a bear all the time??

The woman told her to stay for a day and night and weave for her and then she'd help her find her husband in time for the 3 days.

They prepared the wool in rainbow colors, and after each step the old woman gave Nell a nut, a brass pecan, silver chestnut, and gold acorn. Very strange. She told her to follow the white bird to her husband and only use the gifts when she had to.

What happened next was the most bizarre thing yet. They came to a river which she couldn't cross and for some reason she had the idea to crack one of the nuts, not sure why you'd come to that conclusion. But the pecan revealed a bunch of blackbirds which got a limb and she held onto it and they flew her across. What? Why would she have to hang onto a limb? Why not have the birds grasp her and lift her? Such a weird idea to have.

She ended up on a mountain peak at night and she couldn't see anything, so she cracked the chestnut and fireflies flew out and lit up the area.

I was super pissed when Nell came up on a stream and saw these girls washing their clothes, and there was old Snowbear offering to marry the one who could wash the stains out of the shirt. Excuse me? Aren't you married now you fair weather turncoat?
Oh that made me so mad! Especially to see the group of girls standing around him. Some looked flirty and interested and I wanted to smack him!

Nell "covered her face" and got in line to wash, Idk how she covered her face or why she couldn't just go up there as herself and apologize and try to make it right. I was full of shock and upset as another girl washed the stains out and got him for herself. That's not supposed to happen!

Then all of a sudden the morning was coming and I was like wtf happened between him and that girl during the night? She said he'd turn into a bear forever--I thought he would have been a bear instantly when she betrayed him, because he was already in bear form anyway. Why be a bear, turn back into a man at night, and then back into a bear the next morning? It made no sense.

She saw him and the girl going to her cabin, but the girl didn't notice he was a bear right away. When she did she screamed and ran inside. Nell went to him and professed her love for both beast and man and offered the golden acorn. Her tears fell on it and it turned red like "heart's blood." WHAT is happening? Why would that happen?

The acorn cracked and Christmas roses came out, which looked like tropical flowers and nothing at all like a rose. So the poem "made sense," as much sense as an odd idea can. Her "heart's blood" had spilled on gold the spell would lose its hold.

He emerged from the roses as a man, and he was happy that her love had broken the spell. The spell that last mere moments! Come on. We don't even know how long he was caught in this time of changing back and forth, but this time he didn't have to face being a bear for long before she saved him.

And it ticked me off that he said let's go home like he didn't just almost marry another girl at the drop of a hat. He turned on her like she'd never been there, and only got back with her when she broke his curse. What a jerk. Why would he have been willing to marry someone else and what did the stain have to do with anything when before all he had to do was claim whatever was waiting for the person who picked a Christmas rose? So many random elements with no explanations, a plot that didn't make sense or come together. It was random things strung together.

The best part was the illustrations. They livened it up. But this book is too short for this story.

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a teacher, I often read stories that are suppose to reflect my culture. This is a take on the traditional Beauty and the Beast story, but I am not sure it reflects my culture---historically or contemporarily. But it is a good story, just like Beauty and the Beast is, just a bit different from what I would consider an "Appalachian" story to be. Of course, most of our stories from long ago are in oral tradition.

The things I like about about the story and would feature---characterization that show human qualities, the GORGEOUS artwork, and the flow of language.
Yes, i will use it in the classroom.

[KatieS · Rating 3 out of 5]

This version was much nicer than the better known Disney version of this tale. A daughter wittingly goes to the beast because that was the deal made between her father and the beast. The beast is kind to the girl, cares for her, and they end up falling in love. When the daughter is allowed to leave the best to check on her father, she breaks a promise and the beast begins his death. Eventually, the two are reunited and the girl's love saves the beast and transforms him back to his human form.

The pictures in this book were beautiful. Though there weren't as many as I'm used to in picture books, they were some of the best I've seen in picture books. They were detailed and realistic.

[Sgivens · Rating 5 out of 5]

A retelling of beauty and the beast with some changes. I really like the illustrations and that the author made the bear able to turn into a human at night. It made everything a lot less scary for the poor girl.

[Andreaiu · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amalgamation of several classic wonder tales. Beautiful illustrations.

[Jayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really cool retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and I loved the setting.

[Faith Fishcrazy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations and a nice little re-telling (fairly standard) of the fairy tale.

[Kimberly Souza · Rating 3 out of 5]

East of the sun, West of the moon is one of my favorite stories and this version is really cute. It is a small picture book that older children will love.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this! A mix of East of the Sun and West of the Moon with Beauty and the Beast thrown in, all with an Appalachian twist!! So sweet!

[Wren · Rating 4 out of 5]

The colonial setting was fresh and amusing. Seeing Nell/Belle’s father geared up as a frontier woodsman caught me off guard and made me smile. This is another of those retellings that blends several of the old tales into one. The last full-color double page painting is especially beautiful.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lyrical, picture book retelling on Beauty and the Beast. I love the illustrations, it takes an "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" type ending, which I prefer.