Hopscotch Fairy Tales: The Ugly Duckling

Anne Walter's The Ugly Duckling is a gentle fairy tale retelling for 5 year olds about a little bird who can't find anywhere he fits.

What happens

Mother Duck has been waiting and waiting for her eggs to hatch. At last they do, all except the biggest one. When that one finally cracks, out comes a very large, very ugly duckling.

"Oh!" says Mother Duck. Then she takes them all off for a swim anyway (good for her).

He turns out to be the best swimmer of the lot. But the other birds on the farm laugh at him and peck him, so he runs away.

Everywhere he goes, it's the same. The geese in the marsh laugh at him. A hen at a cottage tells him to go away because he can't lay eggs.

Then autumn comes, and a long, cold, lonely winter by the river.

By spring he's so lonely that he makes a brave decision. He'll swim up to some birds on a pond and say hello, even if they tell him to go away too.

This is the classic tale told very simply, in short, clear sentences. It's exactly the kind of story a new reader can manage on their own, or you can read it together in one sitting. Mother Duck sticking up for him at the pond is a lovely touch.

Would your child know what those beautiful white birds in the sky are before the duckling does? Most will be bursting to tell you!

It's a nice one for talking about being left out, and about how it feels when people judge you on how you look. The unkindness is short and never frightening. And the ending is every bit as happy as you'd hope.

What to read next

If they enjoy this one, Cinderella and the Beanstalk is another short fairy tale for new readers. This time two stories get jumbled into one funny rhyme, with Cinderella and Jack climbing a beanstalk together.