The Ugly Duckling Story with Pictures For Kids

Image: The Ugly Duckling Story with Pictures For Kids

Kids love a short story in English with morals during bedtime. Nothing’s better than the classic fairy tale of a duckling who is first hated by his siblings for his ‘ugly’ appearance but gradually grows into a beautiful swan. The Ugly Duckling short story ends with the moral that we should not discriminate against anyone based on their looks. So, read on to join the ugly duckling on his journey of becoming beautiful.

Birth of the Ugly Duckling

Once upon a time, on a warm summer day, mother duck’s eggs finally hatched. Tiny little ducklings started popping out of the eggs and their sight filled mamma duck with immense joy. The baby ducklings cried peep! peep! While the mother duck responded with a quack! Quack!

The mother duck then noticed that one egg, which was the biggest of them all, hatched in the end. The mother duck was expecting another tiny golden duckling but was shocked to see a big, strange-looking bird with grey feathers, popping out of the egg. She said, “You are not like my other ducklings!”

The Ugly Duckling Faces Reality

Image: Everybody hated the ugly duckling. 

The ugly duckling story then proceeds with the mother duck taking all of them out for their first swim in the pond. All the ducklings quacked in joy but the one with grey feathers made a crackling sound, which made all his siblings hate him. As the days went by, the ducklings’ hatred grew. They made fun of the ugly duckling for his grey feathers and a big beak. Whenever he asked anyone, “Will you play with me?” All the ducklings would say, “No! No!”

After being ignored by the mother duck and his siblings, the ugly duckling felt so lonely that he couldn’t take it anymore. One day, he finally left his home and ran away to live in a swamp where the wild ducks lived. Even they ignored him and forced the ugly duckling to go from there. 

Image: The ugly duckling left his home.

Soon, the winters approached in the ugly duck story, and the water became very cold. The ugly duckling got stuck in the swamp as it froze. In the morning, a farmer rescued the ugly duckling and took him to his house. The ugly duckling was terrified there. After he recovered, the farmer sent him back to the pond. The ugly duckling survived through the harsh winters - all lonely.

Image: A farmer saved the ugly duckling from freezing. 

The Not So ‘Ugly’ Duckling!

The seasons changed and time passed. The ugly duckling started growing. His neck became longer and his wings became wider. His ugly grey feathers slowly changed into beautiful white, but he was not aware of all these changes in his body. 

Then one day, the fully grown ugly duckling saw two big white swans and thought to himself, “What beautiful birds!” The ugly duckling approached the swans and asked them, “Can I join you?” but he was sure of getting rejected again. He was extremely surprised when the swans welcomed him warmly. 

Image: The ugly duckling saw two beautiful swans.

The confused duckling asked them, “Why did you welcome me? I am an ugly duckling.” The swans laughed and asked him to look at himself in the water. As he saw his reflection, to his surprise, he was not an ugly duckling anymore. He had transformed into a beautiful swan just like the birds he was talking to. He was very happy as he had found his new swan family. 

He flew off to meet his old family and asked his mother and sibling ducks, “Do you remember me?” “No!” said the ducks. “I am the ugly duckling!” revealed the swan. Everyone was surprised and happy to see him as he had turned into such a beautiful bird. The mother duck said, “It doesn’t matter if you are not a duckling. You are my child too, and I love you!”

The Ugly Duckling Story Summary

In short, the ugly duckling story with pictures tells the tale of an ugly duckling, who is in reality a beautiful swan. The ugly duckling is a long-necked, broad-beaked, and grey-feathered bird, who is born into a family of golden ducklings. Being different from his siblings in looks, the ugly duckling is hated by his family and everyone around. He is ignored throughout his life and left alone in the chilling winters until he grows up into a beautiful swan.

The Ugly Duckling Picture Story With Moral

This duck story in English ends with a beautiful moral. After reading this, children will learn the lesson that they should not treat people differently because they look different. The story also tells kids to not give up easily and to accept themselves for who they are.

Like “The Ugly Duckling,” we at Vedantu have created a collection of many amazing classic bedtime 5 lines short stories with morals for children, along with fairy tales, poems, quiz, Maths worksheets and more. So, don’t forget to explore our website and let your kid delve into the fun world of learning.