Chip’s Field Day Raises Questions About Beast’s Isolation: Review

Ten years ago today, Random House’s a Little Golden Book released Disney Princess: Belle is My Babysitter. The 24-page book for two- to five-year-olds is available on the Libby app, available through many local libraries.

It’s unsurprisingly a simple story, about the castle’s beautiful captive organizing a field day for the benefit of Chip. It has some delightfully amusing visuals, including Cogsworth riding Footstool, who takes the place of “a bucking bronco.”

It’s a nice if passive entry into the Disney pantheon, one of a number of is My Babysitter books.

One aside though: Chip starts the story in a mood, as “today is field day for all the village kids,” and “I can’t play because I’m a teacup.” How exactly does he know?

The Beast did of course have a magic mirror, which could see happenings in the poor provincial town, but did the enchanted objects use it routinely? While the staff probably didn’t eat as objects, The Beast did. Perhaps some of the objects would raid the town for his food, under cover of darkness?

It’s for kids, sure, but one of the core plot points in the film is the isolation. I suspect they’d realize the error.

Disney Kids has turned the book into a video: