Read this story on Yak Yacker with clickable word help, full story audio, and lesson notes below the text.
This version is written for English-speaking learners who want a friendly reading experience in English.
It is summer. Mother Duck sits on her . The . One, two, three, four, five, six little ducklings.
But one egg is . It . A big gray duckling comes out. He is .
'You are ugly!' says a duckling. 'Go away,' says Mother Duck. The ugly duckling is .
He . He sees white birds. 'They are so beautiful,' he thinks.
Winter comes. It is . The ugly duckling is . He in the cold.
Spring comes. The ugly duckling looks in the water. He is a !
'Oh! I am not a duck. I am a !' He is very . He swims with the other swans.
In summer, Mother Duck sits on eggs. They break open. Six small yellow ducklings come out.
One egg is bigger. It opens later. A big gray duckling comes out. He looks different.
"You are ugly!" says another duckling. "Leave," says Mother Duck. The ugly duckling feels sad.
He runs away. He sees pretty white birds. He thinks they are very beautiful.
Winter arrives. It is very cold. The ugly duckling is by himself. He hides in the cold.
Spring comes. The ugly duckling looks at himself in the water. He sees he is a beautiful white swan!
"Oh! I am not a duck. I am a swan!" He is very happy. He swims with the other swans.
Let's look at some words from the story. They help us talk about animals, colours, and feelings.
Remember: the ugly duckling is a baby duck, and a swan is a big white bird.
- ugly = not beautiful
- beautiful = very, very nice
- gray = a colour (like a rainy sky)
- swan = a big white bird with a long neck
- duckling = a baby duck
- sad ↔ happy
The duckling feels sad, but later he feels happy. We use 'I am' for ourselves.
For other people, animals or things we use 'He / She / It is' or 'They are'.
- I am happy.
- He is sad.
- The duckling is gray.
- They are beautiful.
This story uses easy words and short sentences. It shows the order of events with time words and seasons.
When you tell a story, you can start with the time or weather. Then say what happens next.
- 'It is summer.' - say the season
- 'One, two, three...' - count things
- 'Winter comes.' - change of season
- 'He looks in the water.' - action
The ugly duckling was different, but he became a beautiful swan. Differences are good!
Now you can tell the story to a friend. Or draw your favourite part. Remember: you are special, just like the swan.
The Ugly Duckling comes from an older public-domain story tradition and is best known as a public_domain_fairy_tale_retelling. This Yak Yacker article is an original learner retelling based on public-domain source material, so the wording here is simplified for modern learners rather than copied from one old edition.
Older printings, translations, and retellings of this story can vary quite a bit. This version is adapted for A1 Beginner learners studying English.
If you want to keep going, browse more in our English section and review the A1 English Vocabulary List. After that, try English Question Words for another useful next step.
