The Ugly Duckling

The Ugly Duckling

Book Review by: Maryann Linebarger

Bibliographic Information

Title: The Ugly Duckling

Author: Hans Christian Andersen

Illustrator: Jerry Pinkney

Publisher: HarperCollins

Publication Date: March 24th 1999 (first published January 1st 1925)

Age Level: 4 to 8 years

Number of Pages: 40

Language: English

ISBN-13: 978-0688159320

Price: $8.81 as of 12/5/13 (via Amazon.com)

Analysis of a Literary Element

Illustrations: I find the illustrations in this story to be very well done. Pinkney’s drawings are also just great pieces of artwork! The Ugly Duckling is written for children and therefore is a picture book. The idea behind picture books it to keep children interested in the story and to also provide context cues to help read along and set the scene. The illustrations in the story all work well together in the sense that they are true to the story. The pictures in this book are very well done and show an accurate portrayal of ducklings. In other words, the illustrations are more realistic than other books and they are able to provide children with some more knowledge about ducks and ducklings.

Summary

The Ugly Duckling is a story of a swan that was born into a family of ducks. The other animals in the pond shun the ugly duckling because they think that such an ugly animal shouldn’t be included with them. When the ugly duckling finds a group of beautiful white birds, he strives to be as beautiful as them one day. After the winter, the ugly duckling sees his reflection in a pond and realizes that he wasn't a duck at all - he has grown up to be a beautiful white swan!

Review

The Ugly Duckling was definitely one of my favorite stories growing up. As a child, I was bullied a lot by other students at school, primarily about my looks (having braces, glasses, etc.) It was stories like this that were helpful in keeping my positive about the future. When I was a child, I hoped that I would eventually become a model or some sort of beautiful person in this world, like the duckling. Today I realize that The Ugly Duckling gave me the confidence to know that things would eventually get better, and I was right!

Author Bio

Hans Christian Andersen was born in Odense, Denmark, on April 2, 1805. While the Andersen family was not wealthy, young Hans Christian was educated in boarding schools for the privileged. In 1819, Andersen traveled to Copenhagen to work as an actor. He returned to school after a short time, supported by a patron named Jonas Collin. He began writing during this period, at Collin's urging, but was discouraged from continuing by his teachers. In 1835 Andersen began producing fairy tales. Andersen achieved worldwide fame for writing innovative and influential fairy tales. Many of his stories, including "The Ugly Duckling" and "The Princess and the Pea," remain classics of the genre. In 1872 Andersen sustained a serious injury from falling from out of bed in his Copenhagen home. Around this time, he started to show signs of the liver cancer that would take his life. His final publication, a collection of stories, appeared the same year. He died in Copenhagen on August 4, 1875.

http://www.biography.com/people/hans-christian-andersen-9184146