The Ugly Duckling

The Ugly Duckling

Retold by: Stephen Mitchell

Illustrations by: Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher

Candlewick Press, 2008

36 Pages

Traditional Literature 

     I decided to pick this book, because it has a good moral.  I also wanted to read this version of the story.  It is about a duck that hatches and looks completely different than the other ducks.  The other ducks make fun of him and tell him that he is ugly.  Eventually, even his mother does not want him around.  So, the duck decides to go elsewhere.  He swims to a marsh, hoping to find a place to stay for the night.  In the morning, some wild ducks come to greet him.  They tell him that he is welcome to stay with them, but they don’t want him to marry into their families.  He is happy, until some hunters come and kill two geese that were also in the marsh with him.  The geese had tried to accept him too, but the duck realizes that it is not safe there and moves on to find somewhere else to stay.  The duckling comes across an old cottage and makes his way into it through a crack in the door.  An old lady lives at the house with her hen and cat.  The hen and cat don’t like the duck, either, because he is different.   The duckling decides to leave.  Soon after, fall comes.  He sees some beautiful birds flying, and wishes he could be as pretty as they are.  Then winter comes and the duckling has a really hard time; the water freezes.  Then, a peasant finds him and takes him home, but he winds up running away when some children frighten him.  But, then spring comes.  The duck sees the same birds that he saw that were so pretty and follows them.  As he is trying to tell them that he only wants to see them and he doesn’t care if they are mean to him for being ugly, he looks down into the water at his reflection.  He is one of them! 

     The illustrations in this book are very beautiful.  The artist uses a mixed media form in his work.  Each picture is extremely detailed.  He does a wonderful job portraying what is happening in the book.  I love the colors he uses; he has a way of making his pictures look real, just like they are in nature.  The illustrator also uses size and proportion to show what is happening.  I love the two-page spread paintings that he does.  This gives the reader a bigger picture to go along with the story.

     I would use this in my classroom to teach my students a lesson that everyone is different, but it’s ok to be different.  I would relate the story to them, and ask them how they would feel if they were the ugly duckling.  This allows students to think about the main character and his struggles.  I could also do a topic cluster about the hardships that the duck had in the book; then, they could write a few sentences about it.  I think it’s really important that students understand the events of the story, also.  I could make a map of all of the different places the duck goes.  I think the most important thing is that they understand that everyone is different, and we must not make fun of one another for these differences.  I think the book is most appropriate for kindergarten through second grade.