The Ugly Duckling - Kidztory animated storybook Review

Posted by Amy Solomon on May 17th, 2011
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

The Ugly Duckling is the most recent classic Kidztory application from the developers at Stepworks, lovingly adapting the Hans Christian Anderson tale of the same name. As with all Kidztory classic stories, one has the choice of listening to narration or reading this tale to oneself. Do tap the characters and other objects in this book looking for both sound and animated hotspots. Being a universal app, this application works with both iPhone and iPad.

It is no secret that I am one of Kidztory’s biggest fans. I love their colorful, stylized illustrations for which they are known as well as the stories they choose, the lessons they deliver with a gentle touch and the moral that ends each of their tales. This app carries on this tradition of these beautiful stories, here about an ugly duckling who is made to feel like an outcast until he grows into his body, forever being humbled by his experiences of being an outsider even when his fortune takes a turn for the better.


I am very happy with the adaptation of this classic Hans Christian Andersen story, first published in 1843. I appreciate that this story, although abridged, maintains the same themes and tone as the original, here simplifying the story in terms of length and scope. Andersen stories can be dark and this tale has moments that although written for children, venture into territory that many parents might feel crosses the line for a modern kids story. I am happy to say that this app avoids the darkest points of this tale while maintaining the important message this story delivers.


Still, the dialogue can be rough as one might expect from this story and the poor ugly duckling does get a fair share of grief from the other ducks. My son, who is empathetic to a fault, does seem to get upset for the ugly duckling when he is hurt by others' words, but he enjoys this story a great deal, and I feel that exposing him to this tale does something good for him as it not only introduces him to a classic, but teaches him about friendship and the way people should treat each other. We talk about how he would treat the ugly duckling if he were a duck in this story and how he would react if others were being mean to his friend. The fun interactions keep this app light and fun; my son loves to crack open the duck eggs with a tap, as well as the other interactive hotspots.


Although these characters do not speak, when tapped they emotionally respond with sounds that speak as loud as actual words would, something I have come to appreciate among all the Kidztory classic story applications. I also appreciate how Kidztory apps incorporate characters from other stories, and I enjoy how the farmer and wife are the characters used in the “Gingerbread Man." It is of note that the farmer and his wife are people of color, as many faces in apps today are Caucasian. No reference to race is used here, but I find this choice refreshing.

The moral of this story book is that the ugly duckling, now a beautiful swan, will never forget how it felt to be treated like an ugly duckling. My son starts preschool this fall and I am not concerned with him being mean to other children, or that he will be singled out by other kids for any specific reason. I do hope, however, that he will have a voice if he witnesses other children being cruel to each other. Having the confidence of a swan, I hope he will remember how it may feel to be the odd duck out and stand up for children in need of a friend.

iPhone Screenshots

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The Ugly Duckling – Kidztory animated storybook screenshot 1 The Ugly Duckling – Kidztory animated storybook screenshot 2 The Ugly Duckling – Kidztory animated storybook screenshot 3 The Ugly Duckling – Kidztory animated storybook screenshot 4 The Ugly Duckling – Kidztory animated storybook screenshot 5

iPad Screenshots

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The Ugly Duckling – Kidztory animated storybook screenshot 6 The Ugly Duckling – Kidztory animated storybook screenshot 7 The Ugly Duckling – Kidztory animated storybook screenshot 8 The Ugly Duckling – Kidztory animated storybook screenshot 9 The Ugly Duckling – Kidztory animated storybook screenshot 10
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