To Pick a Topic...

Topic: Western African Stories

Comments: Because I have visited Western Africa before, I think it would be really fascinating to hear about some of the tales of their region. I have visited Mozambique, and the stories I have looked into are actually from places like Ghana, but I think they are closely linked enough to where I still would get a good 'taste' for Western African folklore.

Possible Stories: Looking at the Western Africa unit from the UNtextbook, I see a few different directions I could go because there are so many different stories within the unit. There are a lot of stories focused on animals, so I could do a direction where I explore the origin of animals based on Western African tales.

Sample Story Comments: This story seems super interesting because we have that famous "Tortoise and the Hare" tale that is told in the United States all growing up, but it is as if this adds a little flavor to that tale!

Bibliography Information:

Sample Story: How the Tortoise Got Its Shell

Book Title: West African Folktales

Book Author: William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair, with drawings by Cecilia Sinclair

Year: 1917

Topic: Inuit Tales

Comments: I did a project last semester on Inuit throat singing and how it has developed and changed forms throughout history. I found it extremely interesting, and just think that doing a Storybook on it might even add to my knowledge of the subject!

Possible Stories: Well, it looks like if I am going to do this that I am going to have to get familiar with this belligerent and infamous Raven character. If I do end up doing this, I think I would really enjoy reading all of the stories about it.

Sample Story Comments: I just picked a story at random from the unit, and found it to be very entertaining. I think it is a good one about entitlement! This seems to be one of the stories where Raven finds himself a little more humbled.

Bibliography Information:

Sample Story: Raven's Marriage

Book Title: Myths and Legends of Alaska

Book Author: Katharine Berry Judson

Year: 1911

Topic: Love is a Fairytale

Comments: I grew up with the flowing red-haired wig from Ariel, the flawless blonde up-do wig from Cinderella, and had nightmares of the witch from Snow White. Why not learn more about them in a unit? I think it a fun, creative way to link back to my childhood!

Possible Stories: I don't know if I would go from a direction of the classic princess stories that Disney tended to glorify, or pick some of the same genre just less popular. Or a mix of both! There are stories about Snow White, Cinderella, Rapunzel, one about 12 dancing princesses, and so many others. I feel like I would want to include them all in some way!

Sample Story Comments: Rapunzel isn't exactly like the movie Tangled... or rather, the other way around. It follows the storyline with which I am familiar, but I don't think I realized how morbid these tales can actually be!

Bibliography Information:

Sample Story: Rapunzel

Book Title: Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm

Book Author: Translated by Edgar Taylor and Marian Edwardes, with illustrations by R. Anning Bell

Year: 1912

Rapunzel's happily every after.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Topic: Italia
Comments: Wanderlust. It's got me bad. One place I have always wanted to visit is Italy. My dream is coming true this summer when I get to go backpack for three weeks through a small part of Europe. Basically, I am picking this to focus just on Italy because I have always had a fascination for the place.
Possible Stories: There seem to be a lot of tales in this unit, and one idea I have that I think would be cool is to try to find a story from four different regions within Italy, and create a sort of Mythology map.
Sample Story Comments: I loved this story! It's so different than others I've read, and I am glad this one actually ends happy. But I found it interesting that the magician suggest he get quartered? If Italians are that crazy... I might reconsider going!
Bibliography Information:
Sample Story: Water and Salt
Book Title: Italian Popular Tales
Book Author: Thomas Frederick Crane
Year: 1885