Thumbelina is born in a calyx. A bumblebee opens the flower and the little one goes on a journey of discovery. She has to hide from a nubile frog in a nut and lands on a water lily leaf. A fish bites through the stem of the leaf. Thumbelina swims down the stream until she is called to dance by a cockchafer. The dance fails and the beetle pushes her off the leaf into the depths. She falls into a spider's web and onto a dandelion. She sails away with an umbrella of seeds and lands on her calyx again. The autumn storm breaks the flower. Thumbelina finds shelter with a field mouse. There she cares for a sick swallow. The mouse wants to marry Thumbelina off to the mole, but the little girl manages to escape with the help of the swallow. They both fly off to the sunny south.