Thumbelina (Little Golden Book)

A cute story. Makes me wonder if this is the abridged version or if that is all there is. I thought the personification of the animals was cute. It is a good story to have an adult read to a child, especially a girl. I can see girls getting into this story as it is about a small girl with one thing in mind....marriage. I think it defines what a bad marriage would be...like to the toad and to the mole and what a good marriage would be...to a wealthy fairy prince.

To me...the values that this story teaches are antiquated but it is a cute story nonetheless.

The print is rather small for a young reader to read it on their own. By comparison to print against pictures, it is clearly meant for an adult to read it as a bed time story.

This is the story of a small small girl named Thumbelina who lives in a big world. She likes the nature, but ends up meeting a toad who kidnaps her to be a husband for the toad's son. Thumbelina escapes only to face a harsh winter. She befriends a kind mouse, who betrothed her to a nature-hating mole. Thumbelina finds a sick swallow and nurses him back to health. Once the swallow is better, she escapes from mole marriage to a Prince who is more her size. And they all live happily ever after.

I love those happy endings! I think animal fantasy is really out there. I've not really gotten into books like that. I liked the Redwall series enough, just not the animal aspect. I think this story has an unusual set of characters, who all seem to show more want Thumbelina married. I also think the plot has alot involved in a very short amount of time.

In a classroom, we could create Thumbelina's out of clay. Mold a tiny figure, paint it, then write a story about their life. We also could make a diorama with scenes from the story, since there are so many. show less

Summary: Thumbelina is a young woman who is only as big as your thumb. She gets taken away from her home by an ugly toad that wants her to marry her son. She escapes and ends up living with a mouse who has a neighbor who happens to be a mole. The mole wants to marry Thumbelina as well. Finally after much time she escapes and meets her true prince and lives happily ever after in a new magical world.

Personal Effect: I think that thumbelina is a book that every little girl would love. It is full of magical worlds and the wonder of true love. That is what I love so much about it.

Extension Ideas: You could have students create a fingerpuppet and then retail the story using their puppets, making sure to specify the story sequencing and show more telling it in correct order.
Cause and Effect lesson would be great for this story. For example, Thumbelina took care of the sparrow and in effect the sparrow saved her. show less