Mercè Escardó i Bas

All of momma ducklings hatch except one egg. The egg is funny looking, but still she waits. Once the baby duck finally hatches he is the ugliest little duck that the momma duck has ever seen. When she brings her baby ducks to the water the ugly duckling is the most graceful. The ugly duckling doesn't understand why he doesn't fit in. The months pass and spring is finally back, the ugly duckling makes his way to the pond where the swans are swimming and he notices his reflection. He is no longer an ugly duckling, but a beautiful swan. I really enjoyed that this book was written in English and Spanish. I am not bilingual, but I think that this would be appealing for students who speak both English and Spanish.… (more)

In my opinion, this is a good book. The illustrations fit the story perfectly. They corresponded with the text on each page flawlessly. For example, the text said that one of the pigs “took some bricks. . . found a nice flat bit of land, and brick by brick build walls, windows, a fireplace, and, last of all, a sturdy roof.” The illustration on the next page shows a pig wiping sweat off of his head from all of his hard work. In the background, there is a large brick house that perfectly matches the text’s description. The illustrations are so detailed that if there were no words, the book would still be comprehensible. The point of view is in third person which creates a strong storytelling feeling while reading the book. The descriptive language and the engaging writing also add to the storytelling feeling. The big idea in this version of the story is that family relationships are important. Even though the three pigs decided to live on their own, they know that they can rely on each other whenever they are faced with trouble.… (more)

"The Ugly Duckling" is a well-known and much-referenced tale in today's culture so one might think that reading a version of it would do very little for a reader. That would be a very wrong thought, especially with this telling of the classic story. This version uses expressive, emotive language and its bilingual nature to really make the book an experience rather than a story. Because of this, the theme really shines through and with a theme like "self exploration," it's no surprise that readers of all ages love it. As someone hearing the tale for the very first time or someone hearing it for the tenth, the style of writing in this book makes it seem like something completely new.… (more)