The Ugly Duckling

Bibliographic Information: Pinkney, J. (1999) The Ugly Duckling. New York, NY: Morrow Junior Books.

Annotation: This is a different story of the ugly duckling. The duckling is hatched and is called "ugly" by other the other ducks. The duckling goes on to live with an old lady, a hen and a cat and even there the duckling is not welcomed. The duckling suffers a long, miserable winter of cold and hunger. The duckling finally decides to join a group of beautiful birds, the risk of death is worth is better than the thought of another winter. The other birds welcome the duckling in and the children talk of the newest ones beauty. The duckling finally understands what it is like to be happy.

Genre: Fiction/Fairytale

Grade Level: K-2

Readers who will like this: Parents with children that are different or stand out. Teachers explaining about diversity and differences. Children who have been teased.

Response/Rating: This was pretty close to the way I remember The Ugly Duckling. This story seemed long and the pictures were realistic but not that exciting. 2

Classroom questions: Are you different from others? Do you look the same now as you did when you were younger? How have you changed?