Thumbelina
A tiny girl no bigger than a thumb goes on a big adventure and finds where she truly belongs.
Age
5-10
Words
1633
Author
Hans Christian Andersen
Chapters
1. A Tiny Wish 🌱
Once there was a woman who wanted a child.
She wanted one very, very much.
But she had no children.
She went to see a wise witch.
"Can you help me?" she asked.
The witch gave her a special seed.
"Plant this in a flowerpot," said the witch.
"Something wonderful will happen!"
The woman paid the witch.
She hurried home with the seed.
She planted the seed in a pot.
She watered it carefully.
Soon a beautiful flower grew!
It looked like a tulip.
The petals were tightly closed.
"What a lovely flower!" said the woman.
She kissed the petals.
Suddenly, POP!
The flower opened!
Inside sat a tiny little girl!
2. Thumbelina 👧
The little girl was no bigger than a thumb!
So the woman called her Thumbelina.
She was the most beautiful tiny girl ever!
She had golden hair and a sweet smile.
The woman loved her dearly!
For a bed, Thumbelina had a walnut shell.
For blankets, she had rose petals.
For a boat, she had a tulip petal.
She sailed in a bowl of water.
She sang with the prettiest voice!
3. The Ugly Toad 🐸
One night, an ugly old toad hopped through the window.
She saw Thumbelina sleeping.
"What a pretty wife for my son!" croaked the toad.
She grabbed the walnut shell!
She hopped away with Thumbelina!
The toad took her to a muddy stream.
"My son will marry you!" said the toad.
She put Thumbelina on a lily pad.
The lily pad was in the middle of the water!
Thumbelina couldn't escape!
When Thumbelina woke up, she cried!
The toad and her ugly son were so horrible!
She didn't want to marry him!
But she was trapped on the lily pad!
The water was all around her!
The fish felt sorry for Thumbelina.
They nibbled through the lily pad's stem!
The lily pad floated away like a boat!
It carried Thumbelina far downstream!
She was free from the toads!
4. The Butterfly and Beetle 🦋
A beautiful butterfly flew by!
It landed on the lily pad!
Thumbelina tied her belt around it.
The butterfly pulled the lily pad faster!
They sailed along the stream together!
Suddenly, a beetle flew down!
He grabbed Thumbelina and flew away!
He took her to his tree!
"Isn't she pretty?" he asked the other beetles.
But the other beetles disagreed!
"She only has two legs!" they said.
"She has no feelers!"
"She looks like a human - how ugly!"
The beetle got embarrassed.
He left Thumbelina alone in the forest.
Poor Thumbelina was all alone!
She lived in the forest all summer.
She made a bed of grass.
She ate nectar from flowers.
She drank dew from leaves.
5. The Field Mouse 🐭
Summer ended and winter came.
It was cold and snowy!
Thumbelina was freezing!
She had no warm place to live!
She walked through the frozen field.
She found a field mouse's door.
She knocked softly.
"Please help me!" she begged.
"I'm so cold and hungry!"
The kind field mouse let her in!
"You poor dear!" said the mouse.
"You can stay with me!
But you must keep my home clean.
And you must tell me stories!"
Thumbelina agreed happily!
The field mouse had a neighbor.
He was a wealthy mole.
He lived in a big underground house.
"He would make a good husband!" said the mouse.
But Thumbelina didn't want to marry a mole!
6. The Mole's Tunnel 🌑
The mole invited them to visit.
He had dug a long tunnel.
"Be careful," he said.
"There's a dead bird in the tunnel.
Don't be scared of it!"
As they walked through, Thumbelina saw the bird.
It was a swallow!
It looked dead and frozen!
The mole kicked it aside.
"Silly bird should have flown south!" he said.
That night, Thumbelina couldn't sleep.
She went back to the tunnel.
She brought a blanket for the bird.
She laid it gently over the swallow.
"Goodbye, pretty bird," she whispered.
Suddenly, she felt something!
The bird's heart was beating!
He wasn't dead - just frozen!
The warmth of the blanket helped him!
His eyes opened slightly!
7. Caring for the Swallow 🩹
All winter, Thumbelina cared for the swallow.
She brought him food and water.
She kept him warm.
The field mouse and mole never knew!
It was her secret!
The swallow got stronger every day.
"Thank you for saving my life!" he said.
"You are so kind, little Thumbelina!
When spring comes, I will fly south.
Will you come with me?"
"I can't," said Thumbelina sadly.
"The field mouse has been kind to me.
I cannot leave her."
The swallow understood.
When spring came, he flew away.
"Goodbye, dear friend!" called Thumbelina.
8. The Unwanted Wedding 💍
The mole asked Thumbelina to marry him!
"You must marry him!" insisted the field mouse.
"He's rich and has a lovely home!"
But Thumbelina was heartbroken!
She didn't love the mole!
"If I marry him, I'll live underground forever!
I'll never see the sun or flowers again!
I'll never hear birds sing!"
But the field mouse had decided.
The wedding would be in four weeks!
Every day, Thumbelina went outside.
She looked at the sun and sky.
"Goodbye, bright sun!" she said sadly.
"Goodbye, beautiful world!"
She felt so unhappy!
9. The Swallow Returns 🐦
On the last day before her wedding, Thumbelina heard a sound.
"Tweet tweet!"
It was the swallow!
He had come back!
"Thumbelina!" he called joyfully!
"I'm going to the warm countries!" he said.
"Come with me!
Sit on my back!
We'll fly away from here!
You saved my life - now I'll save yours!"
Thumbelina's heart leaped!
"Yes!" she cried. "I'll go with you!"
She climbed onto the swallow's back.
She tied herself on with grass.
Up, up they flew into the sky!
Below, the field mouse and mole called to her.
But Thumbelina and the swallow flew away!
Over forests and mountains!
Over lakes and seas!
To the warm countries far away!
10. The Warm Country 🌺
They flew to a beautiful warm land!
The sun shone brightly!
Flowers bloomed everywhere!
It was paradise!
"This is where I live!" said the swallow!
He set Thumbelina down on a white flower.
"You can make your home here!" he said.
Thumbelina looked around in wonder!
Everything was beautiful!
She was finally free!
Suddenly, the flower opened more!
Inside sat a tiny man!
He had wings like a butterfly!
He wore a golden crown!
He was the king of the flower fairies!
"Who are you?" he asked in amazement.
"You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen!"
Thumbelina blushed!
The tiny king was very handsome!
And he was exactly her size!
11. The Perfect Match 👑
The flower king fell in love immediately!
"Will you be my queen?" he asked.
"We are the same size!
We both love flowers and sunshine!
Please say yes!"
Thumbelina looked at the kind king.
She looked at the beautiful land.
She thought about the dark underground life with the mole.
"Yes!" she said happily.
"I will marry you!"
Other flower fairies appeared!
They brought Thumbelina gifts!
Beautiful wings like theirs!
A crown of flowers!
Pretty dresses made of petals!
They had a wonderful wedding!
All the flowers bloomed!
All the birds sang!
The swallow sang loudest of all!
Thumbelina was finally happy!
12. Happily Ever After 🌸
The flower king gave Thumbelina a new name.
"I will call you Maia!" he said.
"It means 'beloved one.'"
Thumbelina loved her new name!
She loved her new life!
She became the queen of the flowers!
She flew from bloom to bloom!
She danced in the sunshine!
She sang with the birds!
She was never cold or sad again!
The swallow flew back north every summer.
He told Thumbelina's story to everyone.
"The tiniest girl had the biggest adventure!" he sang.
And that's how this story came to be known.
And Thumbelina, now called Maia, lived happily ever after with her flower king in the land of eternal sunshine!