One summer, a mother duck sat on her nest, waiting for her eggs to hatch. One by one, the shells broke apart, announcing a new little bird to the world. But one solitary egg, larger than the others, remained nestled and quiet, seemingly unwilling to budge. The mother duck decided to sit on her egg day and night in order to make it hatch. At long last, a new little duckling came forth, but looking quit unlike its siblings. It was big and ugly, and the mother thought it might be a turkey, and decided to find out if her homely looking baby could swim, knowing full well that turkeys don't swim. Yet, when taken to the pond, the ugly little bird waddled to the bank, and began to paddle its way though the water. Throughout the summer, the ugly duckling trailed behind the rest of the brood, living as an outcast, until it finally found itself bitterly alone. Throughout the winter, the ugly duckling narrowly escapes from predators, almost freezes to death and is finally rescued and brought back to health by a neighboring farmer. As winter gave way to spring, the duckling peered into the water, only to see the image of another bird. Only then did it take its proper place in the world--not as a duck, but as a strikingly beautiful swan. Triumph reigns as others swans flock to him in joyful embrace and the once rejected little outcast celebrates the transformation to his true identity. I never dreamed of such happiness, he cried form his heart, when I was an ugly duckling. Written in 1844, this tale represents a jewel in the crown of one of the world's best-loved storytellers. As author of dozens of tales, Hans Christian Andersen frequently cast a bittersweet plot, and a sometimes less than fortunate ending for his characters. Yet, as the ugly duckling emerges to become a magnificent swan, we understand the challenges as well as the pleasant and at times unexpected surprises that life has to offer. This edition of The Ugly Duckling has been artfully retold and illus