The Buckwheat

A fairy tale retold from Hans Christian Andersen

This is a moral fable by Hans Christian Andersen, the Danish author who wrote The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling and many other tales. Andersen wrote this story in the 1840s. It teaches a lesson about pride and the importance of listening to good advice. The story explains why buckwheat fields sometimes turn black after thunderstorms—not just with science, but with a tale of a plant that was too proud to bow its head. Andersen believed even the smallest things in nature could teach us something important.

Band

Yellow · Emerging readers, about 6 to 8

Length

medium · about 580 words in 6 sections · 4 pictures

Source

Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, H. C. Andersen · Project Gutenberg

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (8 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Colouring page

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.