The Ugly Duckling

K-Gr 4-The appeal of this tale is as strong today as it was 150 years ago, and Pinkney has done an admirable job of repackaging it for a new generation. His adaptation of the text succeeds in capturing the gentleness and melancholy of Andersen, although a bit of the social commentary has gone by the wayside. Pinkney does not shy away from including the more disturbing elements, such as the shooting of the geese, recognizing this episode's importance to the fabric of the story. The first glimpse he gives readers of the duckling, having at long last emerged from his shell, exhausted and vulnerable despite his size, foreshadows the events to come and immediately engages children's sympathy. Naturalists will quibble over the artist's choice of birds. This duckling is born into a mallard family, wild, not domestic, and the geese are Canadas, whose range is generally North America. However, these details do not in any way detract from the feast to the eye that these illustrations are, carefully composed and rich in detail. Even those owning The Ugly Duckling as told by Marianna Mayer, illustrated by Thomas Locker (Macmillan, 1987; o.p.)-the most recent "Duckling" of note-will welcome this fresh new version. An artistic tour de force that is worthy of its graceful fine-feathered subject.-Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ

Copyright 1999 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.