In a meadow, a most beautiful flower is growing and from its blossom a graceful girl emerges. As she is hardly bigger than a thumb, she is called Thumbelina. An ugly toad thinks Thumbelina is just the beautiful wife he has been seeking for his son.

Helped by the fish, the delicate creature can estape at the last minute, and a butterfly takes her to a charming river landscape. Safe on the shore, Thumbelina spends the summer and the autumn playing joyful games in the midst of mushrooms, bushes, ferns and flowers. When winter comes, she finds refuge underneath the ground with a field mouse.

Her neighbour, a rich mole, falls in love with the beautiful girl and the field mouse advises Thumbelina not to turn down the proposal. On the day of the wedding, Thumbelina goes out once more to bid farewell to the plants and animals, the sun and sky. The girl tells her troubles to a swallow resting on a tree branch, tired from his flight to the south.

They decide to fly to the warm countries together. Travelling on the swallow's back, they journey over forests, lakes and high mountains to Greece. In the land of fairies and flowers, Thumbelina finds a new home among beings like herself.

Christel Strobel