ANAHEIM : A Fairy-Tale Afternoon for Children

Annie Arredondo sat on the edge of her seat as she listened to Maradith Feinberg read the story of “Beauty and the Beast” Wednesday at the Anaheim Arena.

“This story is really touching,” the 11-year-old girl, who is blind, said.

The storytelling was part of a holiday treat for Annie and nine other children from the local Braille Institute.

Feinberg, who plays Belle in “Walt Disney’s World on Ice” show at the arena, skated up to the children to tell the tale of the prince who was turned into a beast and the girl who helped turn him back into a prince.

After reading the part about the Beast being stabbed in the back by townspeople, Feinberg asked the children what Belle said to him.

“I love you,” replied 10-year-old David Tseng.

“That’s right,” Feinberg said.

Rebeca Valladares said she learned a valuable lesson from the story.

“It has a good message,” said the 11-year-old, who owns a “Beauty and the Beast” video and has listened to it dozens of times. “It tells you not to make fun of people no matter what they look like.”

Annie agreed. “Don’t judge a person by their appearance,” she said.

When the story was over, characters from the show glided out to the children for them to touch.

“I wish I could take a ride on him,” Rebeca said, petting Phillippe the horse, a character from the story. “He’s no ordinary horse. You can’t see a horse like him every day.”

Annie excitedly described what the Beast felt like. “He was furry and big,” she said.

She then held her bracelet up to the Beast’s face so he could see the small “Beauty and the Beast” character charms dangling from it. “I hope he saw it,” she said.

Later, the children were treated to lunch and the afternoon performance of “Walt Disney’s World on Ice Presents Beauty and the Beast” at the arena.

Although they could not see the show, they said they enjoyed it because they could hear the skates scraping the ice and feel the chill in the arena, said Brian Nelson, a Braille Institute assistant youth coordinator who accompanied the children.

“They are seeing it in their own way,” Nelson said. “You can describe something over and over again but you can’t know what it is until you experience it.”

The nonprofit Braille Institute helps blind people learn to live with their disability, he said.

Dana Long, the show’s publicist, said this was the first special story time at the arena for children with disabilities. “It’s the holiday season and we just wanted to do something special for the blind children,” she said.