This wonderful story is about a duckling who is physically, unique in his own way and because of looking different, he is bullied about it. This type of negative attention breaks his spirit but thankfully, the course of time plays in his favor and much to his delight and others, he matures into an astonishingly beautiful swan. ( )

Be yourself and don't listen to what others think of you

Sarah Durkin
Professor Martens
EDUC417
1 March 2016
Reading Log Entry #15: The Ugly Duckling by, Hans Christian Andersen
I like this story because it has a good message. Never give up just because you do not “fit in” with a certain crowd. Everyone is unique in his or her own way, just like the duck in the story. It is good to embrace peoples differences. This story does a good job explaining that you are whom you are and trying to change yourself to get people to like you will get you nowhere in life. The duck later realized that he did not look like the others for a reason and ended up turning into a beautiful swan. This made him stand out, but he was proud of who he was. Also, readers are able to flip through the book and look at all of the illustrations explaining and showing how the duck feels. Treating people badly or bullying them just because they are different than you does not make you better than them. The duck always got his feelings hurt, but did not understand why. Finally, this book does a good job explaining that differences between people should be accepted, not rejected. For example, when the other ducks do not let him be a part of their group, they would single him out and make him feel bad about himself for being different. Readers should know that after reading this children's book, to be kind to others. ( )

This book is a classic. We all know the story. The Duckling was odd from the very beginning. He grows up and has a variety of adventures only to realize at the end that he is not a duck at all...but a beautiful swan.

This Golden book really is meant more for the parent to read to the young child. The illustrations are classic and stylish. But the print is small...And with use of words like "Fluttered" and "cackled" by the time the young reader can acknowledge what these words mean in context they wouldn't be interested in reading a story like this one.

Still, it's a classic. I enjoy it and is why I am keeping it as one of my favorites. ( )

The Ugly Duckling is a great children’s book. It tells about self-confidence, and persistence. The main two reasons why I liked this book was because of the writing style and characters. The writing was very clear and flowed very well, the way this was written kept the reader focused on what was to come next. Also the author used some word to compare what is “beautiful” to what is “ugly.” The characters on the other hand were very realistic. Even though they were portrayed as ducks, people in their every day life go through this feeling of being “unwanted.” This story shows how everyone can feel that way and how to overcome it. The ugly duckling was left out of a lot of things, but at the end of the story the ugly duckling turned out to be a swan which he’s now considered “King of the Swans.” He swam around with confidence now that he felt he was beautiful. The message is to always love yourself, and someone will help you find your confidence. ( )