Fairy Tale Project: The Ugly Duckling

September's BraveWriter-inspired fairy tale project was The Ugly Duckling.

We read:

• The Ugly Duckling adapted and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
• The Ugly Duckling retold and illustrated by Roberta Angaramo
• The Ugly Duckling retold by Lilian Moore and illustrated by Daniel San Souci
• Presenting Tanya the Ugly Duckling by Patricia Lee Gauch and illustrated by Satomi Ichikawa
• Ugly by Donna Jo Napoli and illustrated by Lita Judge

The Jerry Pinkney version had my favorite illustrations, though it was also the most simplified version of the story we read. Napoli's Ugly was a random find at the library, but we ended up really enjoying it. It is an expanded version of the original story with much more detail given, especially as regards how the duckling spent his winter.

Though The Kid enjoyed the Ugly Duckling stories, she struggled with recalling as much information as she wanted when it came time to narrate. She was obviously frustrated with herself for not being able to tell the story. Though I wouldn't normally go this route with a young child, I decided to show her how to take quick notes on a book to help her keep the story in her mind. We grabbed the simplest version we had of the story (Pinkey's version), reread it, and made a quick note on a piece of paper every couple of pages or so about what was important to the story. The Kid then used these notes as brief prompts to herself when she was dictating the story to me.

We'll be taking a break from our fairy tale project for a couple of months. October is busy with an upcoming history fair and The Kid will be participating in NaNoWriMo in November!