A GIRL NAMED THUMBELINA Well said the tiny tiny wee little girl's mother You are a real Thumbelina At this the girl began to sing I am Thumb I am Thumble I'm Thumbelina I can tumble in here with a SPLASH I can kick with each łoe I can swim quick quick slow It's me Thumbelina HELLO She frolicked in the water like a lark in a birdbath until yawn stre-e-e-tch kerdung her head fell on her chest and she was asleep Ever so carefully Mother picked up tiny Thumbelina and placed her in a little bed It was made from half a walnut shell lined with moss with violets for a mattress and a rose petal blanket 9
CHAPTER Two Kidnapped At first light Thumbelina leapt out of bed and onto the table I am Thumb I am Thumble I'm Thumbelina I can drum with my feet I can bow I can stamp I can bounce I can flick I can flounce What can Thumbelina do now You could get dressed said Mother But what will you wear Hmm Let's see Mother plucked some silken petals from flowers in the bowl found a strand of gossamer left by a spider and last of all picked out a needle so tiny she couldn't thread it I can do it clapped Thumbelina And she did Then Mother taught her how to sew Scarcely bigger than the needle Thumbelina soon found a rhythm in her stitching In and out and pull 10
KIDNAPPED it through in and out and pull it through and tie a little knot Snap She bit the thread Thumbelina sewed skirts of leaves jackets of cobwebs and shoes of silver fish scales At night she slept in a simple dress she'd made from the grey of one of Mother's handkerchiefs When Thumbelina wasn't sewing with Mother she spent her time somersaulting walking on her hands and singing at the top of her voice until yawn stre-e-e-tch kerdung she fell asleep Every night she slept soundly tucked up in her little walnut shell One night after the moon had risen and the crickets had fallen silent a small explosion leapt out of the reeds beside the stream A toad came walloping up the path and sprang onto the window ledge Squeezing her lumpy green body through the gap in the window she plopped onto the table and looked at Thumbelina Krrroooooak A black strand of hair fell across Thumbelina's pink cheek What a pretty plump insect said the toad batting her fat eye and swelling her fat chest A perfect dish for my son's birthday banquet 11
