The Ugly Duckling

The Ugly Duckling
Adapted and illustrated by: Jerry Pinkney
Genre: Folktale
Ages: 4-8

This is a story about an odd looking egg that hatches into a duckling that is different from the rest of the ducklings. The other ducklings make fun of it because they say he is ugly. He runs away and is cold, hungry and lonely. When spring arrives he turns into a beautiful swan and fits in with all of the other swans. Children will love hearing another version of the classic folktale. The illustrations are beautiful!


Theme:
A folktale is a story that has been passed down for generations in order to teach a lesson. The lesson of The Ugly Duckling is that people should not be made fun of and left out just because they may be different. It is important to be accepting of everyone.


About the author:
Jerry Pinkney has been illustrating children's books since 1964. He has illustrated over 100 books and has received 5 Caldecott Honor Medals as well as 1 Caldecott Medal in 2010.


Pre-reading activity:
Write the word ugly on the board. Call on students and ask them how they might feel if someone called them ugly. Allow for a class discussion about situations they students may have been in where they did not feel accepted and have them explain to their peers how they felt.


Post-reading activity:
Students will watch the movie The Ugly Duckling. The students will be asked to look for similarities and differences between the book and the movie. After the movie the class will discuss similarities and differences between the two. 


Source used:
http://www.jerrypinkneystudio.com/frameset.html