The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen

• Title: The Ugly Duckling
• Author: Hans Christian Andersen
• Publishing: Minedition. January 13th, 2005.
• Synopsis: The tale of The Ugly Duckling begins when a mother duck gives birth to baby ducklings. One of these ducklings is decided to be a homely little creature who gets made fun of by all the other little ducklings for his appearance. The duckling wanders off sad and lonely and decides to live with an old woman, however he is taunted by her cat and hen for his ugly appearance so he leaves. The ugly duckling sees a beautiful flock of flying swans but is unable to join them because he cannot yet fly. Winter soon arrives and a nice farmer takes the freezing bird in, however the farmer's noisy children scare him off so again the ugly duckling is on his own. Finally spring arrives again and the ugly duckling again sees the flock of swans. The duckling flings himself at them because he no longer wants to live life as an ugly ducking but is surprised when the swans take him as one of their own. The duckling looks down and sees his reflection in the water, realizing that he is no longer an ugly duckling, but a beautiful swan. 
• The illustrations in this book, by Robert Ingpen are very unique in that in each picture there are what appears to be either visible brush strokes or what looks like paper mache. This form of illustration makes this book unique and the feathery appearance ties in nicely, since the book is about a duckling. 
• I love this book and its theme of transformation. I enjoy how although the little duckling is harassed over and over again by his fellow ducklings and then the hen and the cat, he eventually triumphs in the end proving to everyone that he is a beautiful swan. In my opinion this book gives the message of never giving up and to never stop believing, and I think this book is a classic that should be cherished. 
• I could definitely see myself using this in the classroom with younger kids as a comfortable segway into discussing bullying and how saying mean words towards someone else is hurtful .I think I would start by reading the story and then asking some thought provoking questions such as how would you feel if you were the duckling being told that he was ugly? I then would ask another question like would you have stood up for the ugly duckling if you had been a character in the story? I then would have asked my students to brainstorm ideas about what they should do if they see a situation occurring in which someone is being bullied. I would then write the list on the board, decide which ones are important, and then make a classroom agreement. I would take a large poster board that would say "If I ever see someone being a bully, I promise to..." and then include the ideas that we came up with as a class. I would then have my students sign it and then it would be posted somewhere in the front of the classroom. 
• I found an animated disney version of The Ugly Duckling on YouTube that may be a fun extension to reading the book. The link  to the video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qafXdmFsTbE
• I found a website that has potential lesson plans that would go along with the story as well as fun activities including a jigsaw puzzle and an Ugly Duckling coloring page.  The website can be found here: http://www.first-school.ws/activities/fairytales/ugly-duckling.htm
• To learn more about Hans Christian Andersen's other works, click on this link: http://hca.gilead.org.il