What is the moral of Thumbelina?

Kindness is repaid: Thumbelina saves a frozen swallow, and later the swallow carries her away from a life underground to a warm land of flowers. She keeps going through hard times and doesn't settle for a life she doesn't want.

Who wrote Thumbelina?

The Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875). It was first published in 1835. It is an Andersen fairy tale, not a Grimm one.

Where was Thumbelina born?

In a flower. A woman who wanted a child got a barley seed from an old witch and planted it in a flowerpot. A big flower grew, and when the woman kissed it, it opened, with a tiny girl sitting inside.

What happens in Thumbelina?

A toad carries Thumbelina off to marry her son. Little fish help her float away, a beetle takes her and then leaves her, and she spends the winter with a field mouse, who wants her to marry a rich mole. She nurses a frozen swallow back to health, and in autumn it carries her to a land of flowers, where she becomes the flower prince's queen and gets wings of her own.

Thumbelina Story

Ages 3–7
English audio 3 min
Mandarin audio 6 min

Thumbelina is a classic story from Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales, for children aged 3–7. This page has the English story with a native English narration (about 3 min), plus the Chinese version with Mandarin narration (about 6 min). Free to read and listen, no sign-up.

A girl no bigger than a thumb saves a frozen swallow, and it carries her to a land of flowers. By Andersen. With native English narration, plus the Chinese version in Mandarin.

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Read Thumbelina

Once upon a time, a woman wanted a little child. An old witch gave her a seed. "Plant it in a flowerpot," she said.

A big flower grew. The woman kissed it, and pop! It opened. Inside sat a tiny girl, no bigger than a thumb. So the woman called her Thumbelina.

Thumbelina slept in a walnut shell. Her blanket was a rose petal. In the day, she sailed on a plate of water in a tulip petal boat, and she sang.

One night, a big ugly toad came in through the window. "She will be a wife for my son!" said the toad. She took Thumbelina and put her on a lily pad in the river.

Thumbelina cried. The little fish felt sorry for her. They bit the stem, and the leaf floated away. A white butterfly helped pull it along.

Then a beetle flew down and took her up a tree. "She has only two legs!" said the other beetles. "How ugly!" So the beetle left her on a flower.

All summer, Thumbelina lived alone in the forest. She drank dew and ate honey. Then winter came. Snow fell, and she was very cold.

A field mouse let her stay in her warm home. Her neighbor was a mole. He was rich, but he hated the sun and flowers. "Marry the mole," said the field mouse.

In the mole's tunnel lay a swallow. Everyone thought it was dead. But Thumbelina put her head on its chest. Thump, thump! Its heart was beating. All winter, she kept it warm. In spring, the swallow was well. "Come with me," it said. But Thumbelina did not want to leave the field mouse.

In autumn, it was time to marry the mole. Thumbelina went out to say goodbye to the sun. "Tweet, tweet!" It was the swallow! "Winter is coming. Come with me to a warm land!" This time, Thumbelina climbed onto its back.

They flew far away, to a land of flowers. In a white flower stood a tiny prince with a crown and wings. "Will you be my queen?" he asked. "Yes," said Thumbelina. Then she got a pair of wings too, and she flew happily from flower to flower.

The Chinese version: 拇指姑娘

从前有个女人，一个人住在小屋里。她天天盼着：要是能有一个小小的孩子陪着我，该多好啊！她去找一位老巫婆帮忙。巫婆给了她一粒大麦种子，说：“把它种进花盆里，你就知道了。”

女人把种子种下，很快就长出一朵大花，像一朵还没开的郁金香。女人忍不住凑过去，在花瓣上轻轻亲了一下。“啪！”花开了。花心里坐着一个小小的姑娘，又秀气又可爱，只有大拇指那么高。女人就叫她“拇指姑娘”。

女人给她找来半个胡桃壳当小床，铺上紫罗兰花瓣，再盖一片玫瑰花瓣，软软的，香香的。白天，拇指姑娘坐在一片郁金香花瓣上，在一盘清水里划来划去，唱着细细的歌。

一天夜里，一只又大又丑的癞蛤蟆从破窗户跳了进来。“这姑娘给我儿子做媳妇正好！”它抱起胡桃壳就跳走了，把拇指姑娘放在小河中间的一片睡莲叶子上，这样她就逃不掉了。

拇指姑娘醒来，看见四周全是水，伤心地哭了。小鱼们从水里探出头，都不愿意她嫁给癞蛤蟆。它们一起咬断了叶子的茎，叶子就载着她顺水漂走了。一只白蝴蝶落在叶子上，拇指姑娘用腰带把蝴蝶和叶子系在一起，叶子漂得更快了。

忽然，一只大金龟子飞下来，抓起她飞到了树上。别的金龟子都撇撇嘴：“她只有两条腿，连触角都没有，真难看！”金龟子听了，就把她放在一朵雏菊上，自己飞走了。

整个夏天，拇指姑娘一个人住在森林里，吃花里的蜜，喝叶子上的露水。可是冬天来了，花谢了，雪花飘下来。一片雪花落在她身上，就像一大铲雪压在我们身上。她冷得直发抖。

她走到麦田边，敲开了田鼠的门。好心的田鼠让她住了下来。田鼠的邻居是一只鼹鼠，穿着黑天鹅绒的外衣，很有钱，可是他讨厌太阳，也讨厌花。田鼠说：“你要是嫁给他，就享福了。”

鼹鼠的地道里躺着一只燕子，一动不动，大家都以为它冻死了。夜里，拇指姑娘偷偷用干草编了一条毯子，盖在燕子身上，又把头贴在它的胸口——咚，咚，燕子的心还在跳！整个冬天，她都悄悄地照顾它。春天来了，燕子好了，它说：“坐到我背上来，我带你飞到绿色的森林去。”可是拇指姑娘舍不得田鼠，摇了摇头。燕子只好飞走了。

到了秋天，田鼠要拇指姑娘嫁给鼹鼠。嫁过去，她就要永远住在深深的地底下，再也看不见太阳了。婚礼那天，她走出门，向太阳告别：“再见了，亮亮的太阳！”就在这时，头顶上传来“滴哩，滴哩”的叫声——是那只燕子！“冬天又要来了，跟我去温暖的地方吧！”这一次，拇指姑娘爬上了燕子的背。

燕子飞过高山，飞过大海，来到一个开满鲜花的国家，把她放在一朵雪白的大花上。花心里站着一个小小的王子，和她一样高，头戴金冠，背上长着透明的翅膀。他是花的王子。“你愿意做我的王后吗？”他问。拇指姑娘点点头。花朵里飞出许多小精灵，送给她一对亮晶晶的翅膀。从此，她就在花丛里自由地飞来飞去了。

Thumbelina Story: the moral of the story

Kindness comes back to you: the swallow Thumbelina saves is the one who carries her away. Don't give up when things are hard, and don't settle for a life that isn't yours.

Chinese words in Thumbelina

Play the Chinese narration and listen for these words. The pinyin shows the tones.

拇指姑娘mǔ zhǐ gū niang
Thumbelina (the thumb girl)
种子zhǒng zi
seed
癞蛤蟆lài há ma
toad
田鼠tián shǔ
field mouse
鼹鼠yǎn shǔ
mole
燕子yàn zi
swallow
太阳tài yáng
the sun
翅膀chì bǎng
wings

Bedtime storytelling tips

Thumbelina meets a toad, a beetle, a field mouse, a mole and a swallow. Give each animal its own voice, and before each one appears, let your child guess who comes next.
When Thumbelina puts her head on the swallow's chest, pat your child's back twice, "thump, thump," like the swallow's heartbeat.
Hold up a thumb together and imagine a girl no bigger than that. In Chinese she is 拇指姑娘 (mǔ zhǐ gū niang), the thumb girl.

Things to talk about afterwards

Where did Thumbelina come from?
Why did Thumbelina look after the swallow? How did the swallow help her later?
Why didn't Thumbelina want to marry the mole?

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Thumbelina Story: common questions

What is the moral of Thumbelina?: Kindness is repaid: Thumbelina saves a frozen swallow, and later the swallow carries her away from a life underground to a warm land of flowers. She keeps going through hard times and doesn't settle for a life she doesn't want.
Who wrote Thumbelina?: The Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875). It was first published in 1835. It is an Andersen fairy tale, not a Grimm one.
Where was Thumbelina born?: In a flower. A woman who wanted a child got a barley seed from an old witch and planted it in a flowerpot. A big flower grew, and when the woman kissed it, it opened, with a tiny girl sitting inside.
What happens in Thumbelina?: A toad carries Thumbelina off to marry her son. Little fish help her float away, a beetle takes her and then leaves her, and she spends the winter with a field mouse, who wants her to marry a rich mole. She nurses a frozen swallow back to health, and in autumn it carries her to a land of flowers, where she becomes the flower prince's queen and gets wings of her own.

Source and how we retold it

By the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, Tommelise, first published in 1835 and now in the public domain. Our retelling follows Andersen's plot and does not use any existing Chinese translation. The original is long, so several of her adventures are told more briefly. We left out the ending in which the flower prince gives Thumbelina a new name, Maia, and the closing lines in which the swallow flies back to Denmark and tells the story to a man who writes fairy tales.

The narration on this page is AI-generated: the English is read by 英伦绅士 and the Chinese by 温柔妈妈. The audio files are labeled as AI-generated.

If you liked Thumbelina Story, there are more stories in Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales. You can also read this one to your child in your own voice.