Week Two: Storybook Topics

TOPIC 1: Nursery Rhymes

Comments: I grew up with my parents reading me Nursery Rhymes all the time. I think the fact that they teach life lessons with silly characters and stories is really interesting and I would love to move Nursery Rhymes to a modern era, all while telling the same stories.

Possible Stories: I would like to include the stories of paradoxes and of tales for sure. When searching the Un-Textbook, I found a lot of nursery rhymes that would be really cool to re-write. But, I found some classics online too like “Hush Little Baby” and “Humpty Dumpty.”

Sample Story Comments: The paradoxes unit really jumped out at me because those stories are a little hard to decipher in their archaic language. However, if they could be re-told in a modern sense, they might be more enjoyable.

Bibliography Information:

Story Title: Nursery Rhymes: Paradoxes

Book Title: The Nursery Rhyme Book

Book Author: Andrew Lang

Year: 1897

TOPIC 2: Noah and the Ark

Comments: The story of Noah and the ark has always been so interesting to me, even as a child. The idea that one man and his family were responsible for saving all the animals and preserving the wildlife of the planet is so crazy to me. I know the story that is taught in Catholic school, but I would love to read more about this legend from other sources.   

Possible Stories: Possible stories for this topic include the story of the actual flood and the story of Noah’s descendants. I loved the options of stories in the Un-Textbook!

Sample Story Comments: I read the Inmates of the Ark story and didn’t realize some of the details that happened. I guess I knew the general story, but not all of the details. I learned that Noah turned away animals that didn’t have a mate, as he only took pairs. I guess I didn’t think he turned away animals.

Bibliography Information:

Story Title: Inmates of the Ark

Book Title: Legends of the Jews

Book Author: Louis Ginzberg

Year: 1909

TOPIC 3: King Arthur

Comments: Stories of knights and roundtables, queens, and princess have always fascinated me. I think there is a time in everyone’s life where he or she wanted to be a prince or princess. I don’t know very much about King Arthur’s history, just the bare minimum of the story, no details. I would love to learn more about this era and the history of how King Arthur became King.

Possible Stories: I would love to re-tell the stories of the Sword Excalibur, The Round Table, and The Coming of the Holy Graal. These stories are all very historic and I think telling them in a different way could be really fun!

Sample Story Comments: When reading The Drawing of the Sword, I learned that there was a duel before the sword was drawn. Yet, Arthur pulled it, as there was an enchantment on it. Most of the time, men only became King as a result of their bloodline, but Arthur’s was fate.

Bibliography Information:

Story Title: The Drawing of the Sword

Book Title: King Arthur: Tales of the Roundtable

Book Author: Andrew Lang

Year: 1902

TOPIC 4: Fairy Tales

Comments: I grew up obsessed with Disney Princesses! When I saw that the unit over Europa’s Fairy Tales was the “true” stories of these tales, I was immediately intrigued. I only know the stories that Disney tells, and I would love to read more into these legends. 

Possible Stories: The stories of Cinder-maid and A Visitor from Paradise stood out to me. I knew Cinder-maid had to be the original story of Cinderella, but when reading a Visitor from Paradise, it stood out to me.

Sample Story Comments: When reading the story of Cinder-Maid, I was shocked at how different it is from the Cinderella story we all know from Disney. Telling this version of Cinder-Maid in a modern setting could be really neat.

Bibliography Information:

Story Title: Cinder-Maid

Book Title: Europa’s Fairy Book

Book Author: Joseph Jacobs
Year: 1916