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Moments in Maturation: ‘Thumbelina'

Growing up can be extremely scary, yet, in his fairy tale ' An old woman wishes to have a little child of her own, so she asks a witch how to get one. In response, the witch gives her a seed and tells her to plant it. A beautiful flower grows from the seed and, when the flower finally opens, it reveals a little girl inside. The delighted old woman decides to call her Thumbelina, since she is no bigger than a thumb. The Toad Thumbelina lives happily with the old woman, until one night she is kidnapped by a toad. The toad has decided that she will be an excellent wife for its son, so it subsequently whisks her away to a muddy marsh. Thumbelina wakes to find herself floating on a water lily in the middle of the stream. She learns of her marriage to the toad's ugly, slimy son. Frightened, Thumbelina begins crying at her terrible, unescapable fate. A distraught Thumbelina is depicted in the 1872 original telling of "Thumbelina" by Hans Christian Andersen. Public Domain Yet, upon hearing her crying, the fish below pity her and cut the water lily free. So, down the stream Thumbelina drifts, happy and free from the toads. The May Bug As Thumbelina drifts down the river, a May bug spots her, swoops down, grabs her, and takes her to the top of a tree. The May bug feeds her honey and tells 'her how pretty she is, considering that she doesn't look the least like a May bug.' However, other May bugs come to see Thumbelina and begin criticizing her. They say how ugly she is. Their negative comments finally sway the May bug so that it agrees with them. It carries Thumbelina to the bottom of the tree, and abandons her there. Related Stories 4/19/2025 4/18/2025 Left alone and scared, Thumbelina fends for herself throughout summer and fall. But, when winter arrives, Thumbelina has neither shelter, nor warm clothing. She wanders into a large grain field, where she finds a field mouse's home. Pitying Thumbelina, the kind-hearted mouse welcomes her in and offers her a warm place to live. Thumbelina becomes acquainted with the mouse and the mole, in this 1900 illustration from the Andersen Tegner retelling of "Thumbelina." Public Domain The Mole Soon after Thumbelina's arrival, the field mouse's neighbor, the Mole, visits. Thumbelina isn't impressed with him, because he cannot see, doesn't like sunlight or bird song, and abandons a frozen swallow discovered in his tunnels. Secretly, she nurses the swallow back to health until it flies away. The mole admires her and eventually proposes, leaving Thumbelina disappointed and dejected. She does not accept but she feels she has no choice. Finally, the day of the marriage arrives. Thumbelina steps outside to take a last glimpse of the sunlight before descending into the burrow forever. She mourns her fate. Suddenly, Thumbelina hears chirping above her. The swallow that she had helped comes down to her. Unable to hold back her tears, she tells it of her impending wedding. In this 1900 illustration by Andersen Tegner, Thumbelina flies away on the swallow's back, while the mouse and the mole watch from below. Public Domain The swallow offers to save her and carry her away to a distant, warmer place. Overjoyed, Thumbelina quickly climbs onto the swallow's back and the two set off. The King Thumbelina and the swallow finally arrive at the swallow's home in the south. It places Thumbelina on a large white flower and flies to its perch in an ancient marble temple. In the flower, Thumbelina meets a young, tiny king, who rules the spirits of the flowers. Taken with each other, they soon fall in love and marry, living happily ever after. Through this charming story, Andersen showed how Thumbelina maintains her virtue and goodness as she experiences these moments in maturation. And, because she never abandons her virtue, even when scared and hopeless, she merits the beautiful, happy ending to her story. What arts and culture topics would you like us to cover? Please email ideas or feedback to