Author: Hans Christian Andersen
Illustrators: Eva Montanari and Nicoletta Oeccoli
Genre: Fantasy
Awards: NCTE Adventuring With Books: A Booklist for Pre-K - Grade 6 (1993)
Grade(s): 1st-2nd
Summary: Thumbelina is a story of a woman who wanted a daughter so very badly that she went to an old witch who gave her a magic coffee bean. When the woman planted the bean in a pot and watered it, her wish came true and she grew a tiny little girl that she named Thumbelina. Thumbelina was so small that she slept in a bed made out of a walnut shell. One day, a frog came and kidnapped Thumbelina to make her his son's wife. A fish helped her break free and she began floating down a river. Soon, a beetle swooped down and took her away to show his friends his new treasure. When his friends made fun of him, he let Thumbelina go free because he became embarrassed. As Thumbelina tried living on her own, she later fell into a hole that led to a mouse's den. Mouse's friend, Mr. Mole came over and found Thumbelina to be very attractive and wanted to marry her. When Thumbelina went to Mr. Mole's house to prepare for her wedding, she met a swallow who was hurt in Mr. Mole's house. Without Mr. Mole knowing, Thumbelina nursed the swallow back to health and she was able to let him fly free. Later, the swallow ended up coming back to rescue Thumbelina from having to marry Mr. Mole. She was taken to one of her favorite places, the meadow. Here she met many other tiny people and a prince just for her. Thumbelina was finally able to live a happy life with the Flower King among the flowers and other tiny people.
My Thoughts: Although I enjoyed reading this book, it wasn't one of my absolute favorites. I do feel like it would be a good book to use in my classroom to inspire my students to think outside of the box when writing fantastical stories. I do understand that just because it wasn't one of my favorites, doesn't mean that it won't be a favorite of one of my students. I will always include a wide variety of books in my classroom library, including this one.
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