Hans Christian Andersen's "The Ugly Duckling"

by Ian Beck

First published in hardback in 1997, this title offers a retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen classic, in which the little ugly duckling is shunned by the other ducks because he looks so different.

32 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2007

About the author

Ian Archibald Beck (born 1947 in Brighton) is an English children's illustrator and author. In addition to his numerous children's books, he is also most famous for his cover illustration on Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album. He has sold more than a million copies of his books worldwide.

Reviews

[Katie Cat Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic. Good length. Good pictures.

[Jenna Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't keen on the transformation as you couldn't see it happen, so was hard to follow. Also sad that the swan doesn't meet the ducklings again at the end.

[Maryam Sabbar-Yates · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet picture book which would be lovely for a bed time story but I wasn’t keen on the fact it started “Once upon a time...” and ended with “...happily ever after”.