Summary
Highlights
On a summer's day, Mama Duck's six eggs begin to hatch. Five cute, yellow ducklings emerge, but the sixth egg produces a large, grey duckling with a black beak, who is immediately labeled 'ugly' by other ducks. Mama Duck, however, insists he is special.
Feeling different and alone, the 'ugly' duckling leaves his family to find others like him. He encounters turkeys, geese, chickens, and an owl, but none are like him. The wise owl advises him that true happiness comes from within.
Discouraged, the duckling hides in the reeds of a lake through summer, fall, and winter. In spring, he sees a beautiful white swan and wishes he was as beautiful. The swan invites him to swim, and the duckling realizes he has transformed into a swan himself.
The now beautiful swan reunites with his duck family, who are overjoyed. Mama Duck tells him it never mattered if he was yellow or gray, a duck or a swan, but rather who he was on the inside. The swan finally understands he was special all along.