I've remembered that as a child, I simply loved the story of the Ugly Duckling (I felt for him because I was teased a lot at school). As well as the book, we had this lovely record of it which told the story in an unusual way, where the narrator was a male friend of Mrs Duck. Here is one scene I particularly remember (you could imagine this dialogue on MN):
Narrator: I was so upset by Mrs Duck's anxiety over her last egg, that I went to see another mother duck. When I told her all about Mrs Duck's peculiar egg, she said:
Mother duck (with passion): Oh, I'm sure it must be a turkey's egg. The same thing happened to me once, and I've never had such an anxious time!! That little creature spoiled my whole summer. It quarrelled with its brothers and sisters the whole time, and simply refused to go on the pond and learn how to swim. Oh, dear oh dear oh dear, never again. I think your friend ought to get rid of that egg straight away.
Narrator: But Mrs Duck refused to listen to such an idea.
Mrs Duck (furiously, with dramatic music): Oh no, certainly not! I can't do that. I've never got rid of an egg before, and I'm not going to start now. I'm going to hatch that egg, even if I have to spend the whole summer sitting on it. (Her voice rising to a crescendo) Yes! Even if I have to spend the whole summer sitting on it!!!!
Just after the ugly duckling had hatched and been chased away, the narrator said: "It was then that I had to go on a long business trip, right down to Egypt, and it wasn't until the following spring that I arrived back in Denmark." He then meets the ugly duckling who tells the story of what happened to him.
Just recalling this has brought a tear to my eye; and looking back, I think the references to Denmark and Egypt were really clever.