Fairy Tale: Thumbelina read by Trista Sutter for Speakaboos

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Tiny Thumbelina is taken from her mother by a toad who wants her to marry his son. In searching for her way back home, she finds her happily ever after.

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Closed Caption:

Once upon a time, there lived a lonely old
woman. She had dreamed all her life of having
a daughter she could take care of and tell
stories to, but the years had gone by and
her dream never came true. One day, sad and
desperate from spending all of her time alone
in her quiet little cottage, she decided to
visit her neighbor the witch to see if she
could help her have a child. The witch took
pity on the woman and gave her a shiny pink
seed, saying, "Put this in the ground and
if you tend to it with lots of water and sunshine,
you will have your wish."
The woman did as she was told and after one
week a radiant rose blossomed. In the center
of the flower was a beautiful child with golden
hair and skin as soft as flower petals. The
old woman was delighted and immediately picked
the girl up and gave her a tiny hug.
"I will call you Thumbelina," she declared,
"for you are no bigger than my thumb!"
For many years, Thumbelina and the old woman
lived in peace. The girl slept in a bed made
from a walnut shell with a teeny marshmallow
for a mattress. Thumbelina loved the old woman
very much. But one summer night when the old
woman was asleep, a giant toad hopped through
an open window and kidnapped Thumbelina! The
toad carried the poor girl away, declaring,
"I have never seen such a pretty little creature
before. You will make the perfect bride for
my handsome son, Wartimer." When they reached
the toad's pond and she set Thumbelina down
before her son, Thumbelina started crying.
He was scary, slimy, and covered in warts.
All Thumbelina wanted to do was go home.
"She is wonderful!" croaked Wartimer when
he saw Thumbelina. "Mother you have made an
excellent choice. I demand that we hold the
wedding as soon as it is light. Until then
put her on a lily pad in the middle of the
pond so she cannot get away."
Thumbelina spent hours sobbing in the dark.
How would she ever get out of this terrible
mess? But just when she thought all hope was
lost two little critters nibbled through the
lily pad's stem and began to set her free.
"We have heard you crying," declared the critters,
"and we want to help you escape the horrible
toad."
Thumbelina thanked her friends and was relieved
to get away from the icky toad, but she was
also scared as she floated down the water.
She had never been this far from home before
and everything around her looked so big. For
many days Thumbelina wandered around, living
off of flower nectar and dewdrops. Soon the
weather turned cold and she began to fear
she might freeze to death without ever making
it back home. Cold and exhausted, she eventually
stumbled upon a tiny cottage. She knocked
on the door hoping to find some shelter for
the night. It was answered by a furry brown
field mouse.
"Well what do we have here?" asked the mouse
when he saw the tired and shivering Thumbelina.
"You poor child, come in and warm yourself
by the fire. I have plenty of food and room
for you to sleep. All I ask for in return
is your good company and for help cleaning
up the house."
Thumbelina gladly agreed, telling the mouse
that she would stay with him through the winter
then set out to find her way home again in
the spring. For weeks, Thumbelina and the
mouse lived happily together. She knit them
both tiny socks to keep their feet warm and
at night they told each other stories. Thumbelina
told the mouse about the kind old woman and
he told Thumbelina about his 500 brothers
and sisters. Then one morning after breakfast,
the mouse told Thumbelina that his friend
the mole would be coming to pay them a visit.
"I told him all about you when you first arrived
and he is so anxious to meet you. He is very
elegant and very rich. If you are lucky he
might even want to marry you!" Thumbelina
did not like this.
"But I don't want to marry anyone. I just
want to go home!"
"Of course you do dear. Just wait until you
meet him though. He is so wealthy that if
you marry him, you will have anything you
can ever dream of."
Before Thumbelina could argue, she heard a
loud scratching sound coming from the ground.
Suddenly a large hairy creature popped out
of the hole near the door. Thumbelina was
horrified. The mole was so big and had huge
sharp claws. Although his eyesight was bad,
he could tell how beautiful Thumbelina was
by the soft sound of her voice and immediately
proposed to her. Too scared to refuse, Thumbelina
agreed to live underground with him.
As he wedding date was set, though, Thumbelina
quickly regretted her decision. First of all,
the mole's house was dark and dreary. Thumbelina
missed the sun's warm kiss and felt terribly
lonely. And whenever she complained to the
mole, all he would do it buy her a present
and tell her not to worry about it.
One afternoon Thumbelina decided to go exploring.
She hated the dark and dreary nature of the
mole's home and ventured to the woods outside.
Immediately, she saw a beautiful swallow lying
on its side, obviously in pain. Thumbelina
ran to help the bird, whose wing was torn.
Thumbelina began to nurse the poor swallow
back to health and everyday would come to
check on how well he was healing.
"Thank you so much for helping me!" the swallow
declared. "I tore my wing on a thorn and was
unable to follow my friends south for the
winter. Somehow I stumbled into this forest.
I didn't think I would ever get out. How can
I possibly repay you?"
Thumbelina told the swallow about her engagement
to the mole. The wedding day was approaching
and she begged him to save her.
"That is terrible!" the swallow exclaimed
and together they worked out a plan. On the
eve of Thumbelina's wedding, she asked the
mole if she could spend a few last hours outside
in the sun before promising to live underground
with him forever. He agreed and when she went
outside the swallow, whose wing had fully
healed, flew down and rescued her. Although
he did not know how to get her home, he promised
to do the next best thing and flew her to
a land of flowers filled with little people
just like her. It was the most beautiful site
Thumbelina had ever seen. Rows of colored
roses, lilies, and lilacs lined the earth.
And in the middle of it all, a single red
rose shined above them all. There, lived the
King of the Flower Fairies, and when Thumbelina
and the King saw each other, they both immediately
fell in love. The King quickly asked her to
marry him and they had the most beautiful
wedding in all the land. Everyone was invited,
including the kind old lady! Thumbelina was
so happy to see her that she cried little
dewdrops tears. The old woman promised never
to leave her and built a small cottage nearby
where she helped Queen Thumbelina and the
King raise lots tiny flower babies. And they
all lived happily ever after.