Once upon a time there lived a kind woman who had no children, longed for a baby and would often say, “How I would love to have a baby girl, even a tiny little one.” One fine morning a beautiful fairy heard her wish, and gave her a little seed to plant in a flowerpot. When the seed bloomed into a tulip, the woman saw a tiny, beautiful girl inside, no bigger than her thumb. She decided to call her Thumbelina. She was so small that she had a walnut shell for a bed and used petals as a blanket.Then, an ugly toad fell in love with Thumbelina. One night when she was sleeping, he carried her off to his lily pad in a pond. Thumbelina was very unhappy. A swallow was passing by and saw how sad she looked, and said, “Come south with me to warmer lands.”


Young Thumbelina flew away on the swallow’s back. They flew across the seas and came to a land of sunshine. The swallow said, ” This is my home. You can live in one of the loveliest and biggest flowers.” When Thumbelina stepped inside, she found a handsome fairy, as tiny as her, in its heart.


He was the son of the king of flowers and he fell in love with Thumbelina. He asked her to marry him. So Thumbelina became queen of the flowers and the two lived happily ever after

1. Why did the kinda woman give the baby girl's name, Thumbelina?
2. How was the size of Thumbelina?
3. Who helped Thumbelina and brought her to warmer land?
4. Who fell in love with Thumbelina?
5. "...he carried off to his lily pad in a pond". What does the underlined word refer to? ​