Hansel, Gretel, and the Ugly Duckling

Hilary Robinson's Hansel, Gretel, and the Ugly Duckling is a rhyming fairytale mash-up for 5 year olds in which two favourite stories get tangled together.

What happens

Hansel and Gretel have no food. So they set off through the forest to a farm down by the stream, to swap what they have for some eggs.

At the farm they spot a little brown duckling. The other ducks are being mean to him. They gobble the white bread and leave him the crusts. They snuggle up in the reeds while he sleeps on his own.

You can probably guess where this is going!

Next time the children head into the woods, they take some bread for the ducks and drop a crumb trail as they go. They get lost. They find a very sweet little house. And the woman inside locks them in and throws away the key.

But somebody has been following that trail of crumbs, eating as he goes...

It's such a clever idea. Children who know both stories will love spotting the bits they recognise. And how lovely that the duckling, the one nobody wanted, turns out to be the hero.

The rhymes are bouncy and fun to read aloud. They come in short bursts of two or four lines, which makes this a good one for a newer reader to have a go at too.

It's a gentle take on Hansel and Gretel. The woman in the cottage is definitely up to no good, but nobody gets eaten and there's no oven. The children simply get out and run, with the duckling leading the way.

And there's a sweet little payoff right at the end (no prizes for guessing what the ugly duckling grows into).

What to read next

If this one goes down well, try Cinderella and the Beanstalk from the same series. Jack swaps the family cow for a magic bean, and when the beanstalk shoots up, it's Cinderella who says they should climb it.