Hans Christian Andersen & Jesús Lopez Pastor 
The Ugly Duckling 
Tales and Stories for Children

Age: 8-9 years old  Reading Level: 3rd grade The best illustrated fairytales for children!Once upon a time was a mother duck who was admiring her newborns. One of the eggs had not hatched yet and she began to worry. She continued to sit on it and, one fine day, the egg cracked and a strange duckling appeared. Very quickly, the other ducklings started to make fun of him because he was not very pretty and he looked different. They then decided to rename him ‘the ugly little duckling’.The collection ‘Once Upon a Time’ offers a new and richly illustrated version of the most famous fairytales.EXCERPTOne beautiful sunny morning, by the edge of a small pond, mother duck was admiring with joy her little ducklings coming out of their shells. But one egg was very big and it didn’t hatch. Another duck who was passing by congratulated the proud mother when he saw the large egg and said, “It’s probably a turkey egg.”In the same collection:• Thumbelina• The Brave Little Tailor• The Tin Soldier• The Musicians of Bremen• Hansel and Gretel• Three Little Pigs• Beauty and the Beast• Goldilocks and the 3 Bears• The Little Thumb• Puss in Boots• Little Red Riding Hood• Sleeping Beauty• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs• Cinderella• Peter Pan