The Ugly Duckling

Title: Various Titles
Author: Hans Christian Andersen
Publisher: 1844
Reading Level: 4th and up
Pages: 2-10 pages per tale
Genre: Fairy Tale
Other Read: Thumbelina, The Princess and the Pea, The Tin Soldier











Summary:

A mom duck has eggs and one day she realizes that one is different than the rest. Everybody tells her to get rid of it, but she lets it hatch. When it does, she realizes that it is very ugly. She jumps into the lake to see if it knows how to swim and it does. She takes him to the farm and everybody, including his siblings are mean to him. He flies away to another pond, and the ducks there say he can stay as along as he doesn't marry anyone there. One day hunters come and kill many ducks, but they leave him alone. He flies away again to an old women. However, she says he is useless, so he flies to a pond. He sees a swan and feels a connection, but they fly away. Winter comes and a man saves the ducklings life. When he flies back in the summer he sees swans, but he thinks they will be mean to him because he is ugly. However, the accept him because he has turned into a lovely swan.
My Reaction:

In all the versions I've read of the Ugly Duckling they didn't have most of the content that was in the middle. The beginning and end were the same, but the middle was shorter. I thought it was good, but it is a classic.

Potential Problems:

There is a lot of cruelty towards the Ugly Duckling.

Recommendations:

I recommend it just because it is a classic and it's interesting to get more to the story than normal.