Reading Diary A: La Fontaine

For this week, I read the La Fontaine Aesop unit. It was cool to reread Aesop's fables in this storytelling style. The stories are lyrical and fun to read.

I really enjoyed the story of The Ass in the Lion's Skin. I thought that the story was really funny, and it was amusing to imagine people being scared off by that. It seems like someone would have noticed that it was just a skin before Old Martin did, but people can be very oblivious, so it's not totally surprising.

I also really enjoyed the Fox stories, of course. The last one, The Cat and the Fox, was one that I hadn't read before. I felt really badly for the fox in this story because the cat manages to outsmart him when the hounds arrive.

Extra Reading Diary: Italian Popular Tales

For this week, I finished the Italian Popular Tales unit. I absolutely loved the story of Buchettino, who is a wily little boy. I was so shocked that he so easily tricked the ogre not once, but twice! I could easily imagine a charming little Italian boy playing tricks like Buchettino did. I thought the onomatopoeia that was included when the ogre came crashing down on the dishes he was climbing was a lovely addition. It made the story seem like your mom or your grandma was telling it to you.

Another story that I really enjoyed was An Incident in Rome. I loved how this story incorporated the most Italian of traditions, the Papacy of the Roman Catholic Church. It was an interesting addition to the story of Pontius Pilate, who left Jesus’s fate to the pharisees. I felt bad that Master Carter turned to stone after the Pope read what was written on him. I didn’t think that was fair since he was the one to volunteer to see what was down there. The fate of Pilate was certainly interesting, since he didn’t condemn Jesus directly, but also knew that he would be killed at the hands of the Jewish leadership.

A photo posted by Lillian Flannigan (@vulpesdormiens) on Jul 3, 2014 at 4:08pm PDT

A photo I took in Piazza Navona in Rome last summer! 

Reading Diary A: Italian Popular Tales

For this week, I read the Italian Popular Tales unit. I really enjoyed this unit, as I spent the last two summers in Italy, so it has a special place in my heart.

When I read the first story, Zelinda and the Monster, I was immediately reminded of Beauty and the Beast. This version of the story is very beautiful, and I loved the details the story provided about the monster and how Zelinda came to stay with him. I really liked how well the story came together. The sisters kind of reminded me of the stepsisters from Cinderella at first, so I thought it might be a rendition of that story. So I was pleasantly surprised when it was a Beauty and the Beast-type story.

Another story I really loved was The Man, the Serpent, and the Fox. I loved a story about a fox, imagine that. But really, this story was a perfect demonstration of how the fox is a trickster, and I was glad to see that he helped out the huntsman. I was worried after the second judge how the huntsman would fare, I thought the fox might be vindictive, but I was happy with the ending as it happened.

The clever fox

Extra Reading Diary: Celtic Fairy Tales

For this week, I finished the Celtic Fairy Tales unit, which I still found to be pretty strange. The first story in the second half of the unit, King O’Toole and His Goose, started out pretty normally, but the end of the story was very bizarre, and I’m still not entirely sure I understand it. I was glad that King O’Toole made the right decision in his dealings with Saint Kavin, as I could see it going very badly if he’d done something differently. It kind of reminded me of the prince’s ordeal in Beauty and the Beast, but in this case, the king made the right call. The goose was a little weird though.

The story of Beth Gellert was just a tragedy. Finding out you killed the dog that saved your son from a wolf? Talk about a tear-jerker. I was just so incredibly saddened that Gellert had died when it was discovered that he saved the prince’s son. It certainly seemed that he was the culprit at first, but the prince’s haste in killing Gellert prevented him from seeing what had actually happened. I can only imagine how terrible he felt after acting so swiftly. To me, this was one of the few stories in this unit that had an actual moral to learn from the storyline.

(The prince's son. Illustration by John D. Batten. 1892)

Reading Diary A: Celtic Fairy Tales

For this week, I read the Celtic Fairy Tales Unit. Since much of my family is Irish, it seemed like a fitting choice. When I finished reading the first story Connla and the Fairy Maiden, I was incredibly confused, as I didn’t really understand the point of the story. There didn’t seem to be a moral or a lesson to be learned, so I was a little confused as to what the story was trying to convey.

When I read the tale of The Horned Women, I thought it was incredibly frightening. Again, I’m not really sure what the point of this story was, other than being scary. I found that it was quite bizarre and almost grotesque, which was fascinating but disturbing.

The Shepherd of Myddvai was an interesting tale. I had a bad feeling about things when the maiden said that she would leave him if he struck her three times, but I couldn’t imagine him hurting her after all that he did to win her affections. I was really frustrated by the outcome of the story. By merely tapping her on the shoulder, he lost her, and she went back to the lake. That seems pretty unfair. And then the story ends with her giving her sons healing powers when they’re full grown? That’s just a little random...

Illustration by John D. Batten (1892)

Extra Reading Diary: Tejas Legends

This week, I finished the Tejas Stories unit. I really enjoyed the story of How Sickness Entered the World. I thought it was a great explanation for why there are so many illnesses that afflict the world. When the boys beat the snake upon their arrival to the tree, my heart sank because I knew that they’d really stepped in it. I can only imagine how the medicine man was feeling when he found out what they had done.

Another story that I really enjoyed was Why the Dog’s Ears Flop, which I thought was a cute but tragic story of how dogs’ ears became floppy. Dogs are such a fun part of our lives that it’s hard to imagine them doing us any wrong. The turn of events in this story shows that when we first brought dogs into our lives, they were not just to play fetch with and cuddle with on cold nights. They were expected to earn their keep by protecting the humans that provided for them. The dog in this story learns a valuable lesson about trusting others, and we must all be wary of those who might try to trick us into allowing the ones we care about to get hurt.

(A labrador puppy with floppy ears)

Reading Diary A: Tejas Legends

For this week, I read the Tejas Legends unit, one of the cultures that I'm using in my Storybook Project. I really enjoyed these stories, as they are fun to read since they are targeted to children.

The first story that I really enjoyed was How the North Wind Lost His Hair, which explains how the North Wind lost his hair in a fight with the South Wind. When the North Wind loses the fight, he flees, and the South Wind comes away with his hands full of hair. When he drops it, it covers the trees and is known today as Spanish moss. When the North Wind comes back to the south, he quickly leaves because he sees his hair and is reminded that he lost. I thought this story was a very interesting lesson about why a certain plant grows the way it does and why it is always so warm near the gulf.

The other story that I really liked was Why the Woodpecker Pecks, which is one of the stories that I’m basing my Storybook on. This story tells how a tribe of Indians is transformed into woodpeckers because they become addicted to the mescal plant’s hallucinogenic properties and neglect their children. All of the children leave to find food on their own, and eventually one of the mothers notices they are gone, but the tribe cannot find their children. They are turned into birds and must try to find their children in trees, which is why they peck at them with their beaks. I really liked this story because it shows that drugs can be a powerful thing when used incorrectly, and that neglectful parents should be punished for abandoning their children.

(A woodpecker in a tree)

Extra Reading Diary: Southwestern and California Legends

For this week, I finished the Southwestern and California Legends unit. The stories from the Pima people in Arizona were again my favorites, as I could imagine the places that they were taking place really easily.

The first story that I really liked was The Children of Cloud, which tells the story of how mescal started growing on the sides of mountains. I thought the story was incredibly fun and interesting. I really wasn’t sure when I started reading where it was headed, but I thought that the outcome was definitely unexpected. The tests that Cloud put his children through to prove they were his were kind of crazy, but I can understand that he probably would want to make sure those claiming to be his children were telling the truth.

Mescal (Desert Agave)

Reading Diary A: Southwestern and California Legends

(Coyote in Yosemite National Park in California)

For this week, I read the Southwestern and California Legends unit. I really liked these stories because they provide a different approach to creation legends and myths, but they share a lot of similar elements like coyotes and bears.

I most enjoyed the stories that were from Arizona, but that’s probably because Tucson is located in Pima county, named after the group of Native Americans who lived in the area. One of these stories that I liked the most was Coyote and the Tortillas, which tells the story of how the coyote drowns after trying to get tortillas from a woman that were meant for someone else. To me, this story tells the perils of wanting something that is not yours. The woman tricks the coyote into thinking the water is shallow by standing on a stump, so when he climbs down the tree to get them from her, he falls into the water and downs. In the same way, when we want things that are not ours, and we coerce other people in giving them to us, we put ourselves in danger of getting “in over our heads” as the coyote did, causing him to lose everything.

Week 7 Reading Diary B: Brer Rabbit I

I read the second half of the Brer Rabbit I unit, which was just as difficult for me to follow as the first half. I honestly had no idea what most of the frogs were saying in Mr. Fox and the Deceitful Frogs, but towards the end of the story I was able to decipher what they were trying to do.

These stories really continue to highlight the wiliness of Brer Rabbit, who manages to get himself out of plenty of dire situations, usually involving Brer Fox, even when everything seems hopeless. You’d think that, after a while, the animals would stop believing anything Brer Rabbit said to them, but they don’t. I guess that’s just part of the story.

It was nice to see Brer Rabbit learn his lesson on cheating other people out of their fair share in Mr. Rabbit Meets His Match Again. Brer Buzzard sure does teach him a lesson up in that pine tree, and since Brer Rabbit cheated him out of his share of the crops, I don’t blame him for doing that.

(Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox)

All in all, I liked these stories, but they were definitely not easy to read. The language takes some getting used to, and you have to really think about the context of the sentence when you read it.

Week 7 Reading Diary A: Brer Rabbit

For this week, I read the first half of the Brer Rabbit I unit, which was quite a challenge. I took to reading the stories aloud so I could better understand them, which definitely took quite a bit longer than usual. I recognized some of the stories from when I was little though, as my grandma’s family was from Georgia, and she used to tell them to me when I was little, though the way she told them was much easier to understand.

I really liked the first story of the unit, Brer Rabbit and The Calamus Root, because it really gives you a good idea of what the character of Brer Rabbit is like, and how much of a trickster he is. He sees through the schemes of a lot of animals who seem to be a lot more clever than he is, so you never know how he’s going to turn things back around on them. As is shown in later stories though, he can get himself into trouble from time to time, so he has to think quickly to get out of… sticky situations. (I couldn’t resist the tar-baby pun. I’m not sorry.)

Brer Rabbit and the Tar-baby

I also really liked How Mr. Rabbit Was Too Sharp for Mr. Fox, which tells how Brer Rabbit outwits Brer Fox after he gets trapped in Brer Fox’s tar-baby. I found that the stories got easier to understand the more that I read them, and I think that reading them aloud really helped me understand some of the words that look like nonsense when written. Again, Brer Rabbit manages to trick Brer Fox, even when he seems to have gotten himself into a great deal of trouble, which is why the character of Brer Rabbit is such fun. You never know what kind of tricks he might use to get out of trouble.

Extra Reading Diary: West African Unit

For this week, I finished the West African unit, and I found the rest of the stories to be a lot of fun to read. They communicate morals and lessons about the world in a way that's really fun and memorable. I really enjoyed reading about how they explain phenomena in the world around them.

One story that I really enjoyed was How the Tortoise Got Its Shell. I just felt so badly for the tortoise after he was left outside. It was nice that they were able to bring him back to life, but I imagine his quality of life greatly decreased after he had to carry the shell around with him all the time. I imagine that would be very frustrating.

Another story that I really liked from this unit was King Chameleon and the Animals, which shows the chameleon to be a very clever animal, so much so that he tricks everyone into making him king, when it should have been the hare. I think that it's nice to have a new animal play the trickster, as so many cultures use very similar characters in their stories. The chameleon fits the role very well, as his ability to change colors makes him suited to all kinds of tricks.

The Chameleon

Week 6 Reading Diary A: West African Folktales

For this week, I read the West African Folktales Unit, which I found to be very fun and entertaining.

One story that I really liked was Thunder and Anansi, which tells the story of how Anansi's selfishness caused his family to starve, while he gorged himself. I thought this story showed the hazards of being selfish. Anansi had the ability to feed his family, but his greed caused him to lose that. I think this story demonstrates really well how selfishness comes back to impact you and others around you.

Another story that I really liked was Anansi and Nothing, which tells the story of why children seem to cry "for nothing." I thought that this story was a very clever way to explain something everyone tries to understand to no avail: why children seem to cry for no reason. I thought the story was really funny, and at first, I had no idea where the story was going. The ending was a great surprise and definitely made me laugh.

Week 5 Reading Diary B: Persian Tales

I read the second half of the Persian Tales unit, and really enjoyed getting to read more stories from Iran. I really liked the narrative techniques used in these stories, though sometimes they were hard to follow.

I think the first one that I really enjoyed was The Hemp Smoker’s Dream, one of the stories I’ve decided to use for my Storybook Project. I think this story is pretty funny, and kind of lends itself to the stoner image we associate with cannabis in contemporary culture. I guess some things never change, right?

(The Hemp-Smoker's Dream, illustrated by Hilda Roberts) 

Another story I really enjoyed was Tortoise Bowl-On-The-Back and the Fox, even though it outsmarts my favorite character, the fox. The plan that the tortoise comes up with is very clever, which I think helped soften the blow that my fox got outsmarted. Arrogance is not a becoming trait, but I can definitely appreciate the innovation of the tortoise.

All in all, I really liked the stories from this unit. They have good morals and advice, even if at first the story is a little difficult to follow!

Week 5 Reading Diary A: Persian Tales

This week, I read the Persian Tales unit, which was pretty different from most of the stories I’ve read so far. The anthropomorphising of animals was just about the only common theme I could think of between these stories and others I’ve read so far.

The cumulative narrative used in The Sad Tale of the Mouse’s Tail and Susku and Mushu was really interesting, as it reminded me of the 12 Days of Christmas. Repeating the story helps emphasize the storyline and makes it easier to remember, which is important for stories that begin in oral tradition. I think between the two, I liked the Sad Tale the best, as I found the mouse’s frustration to be a funny mental image, though I imagine having to run around just to get your tail sewn back on would be very frustrating, indeed.

I also really liked the story of Muhammad Tirandaz, the Archer, as I found it to be entertaining and kind of funny how lucky Muhammad is. The mental image of him carrying a tree into battle and scaring away the enemy definitely made me chuckle.

Extra Reading Diary: Turkish Fairy Tales

For the extra reading, I read the first half of the Turkish Fairy Tales unit. I really liked the stories, and thought that they were pretty easy to read and follow. The story structure was largely different from many of the others that I’ve read so far, and I really liked how these were told. It was repetitive enough to be told well orally, but also not difficult or cumbersome to read.

I really liked the story of The Crow-Peri, which tells the story of a bird-catcher who gets trapped doing ridiculous errands for the padishah because his advisor is trying to steal the fortune he made by selling the padishah a bird. The crow was a great character, and I loved when they revealed that she was a servant of the queen in her fairy homeland. I had no idea what to expect when reading this story, though I noted that it was similar in structure to the one before it, The Fish-Peri.

(A crow, as I imagined the one in The Crow-Peri to look. Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

I also really liked the story of Fear, which describes a boy who knows no fear, and thus goes on a quest to find fear. I thought it was funny and clever how he did not find fear in many of the places that most people would be afraid, but instead was frightened by a bird flying out of his soup. Arguably, this could have been surprise, not necessarily fear, but it was a very cute ending to the fairy tale.

Week 4 Reading Diary B: Ancient Egypt

This part of the Ancient Egypt unit was really interesting, as the stories were longer and more complex, which I liked. I’ve also gotten more of a sense of how twisted the Egyptians could be, so that was fun.

(Temple in Luxor)

The Tale of King Rhampsinitus was really cool, as it highlighted how the Egyptians really valued cunning and resourcefulness. Also, I thought it was interesting how the brother who was trapped allowed his brother to kill him to save his life. A lot of Egyptian stories seem to have to do with stealing things from people and deception of some kind, which is rather intriguing. It makes me feel like ancient Egypt was more House of Cards than Prince of Egypt.

The Two Brothers was a long, but interesting story that definitely did not end the way I thought it would. I was trying really hard to keep up with what all was going on from page to page, but in the end, I was really surprised that Bata kept coming back to haunt the wife who betrayed him AND managed to somehow make himself her son and become king. It’s all very fantastical and kinda crazy, but it really made you feel like she lived in constant fear of her husband’s soul haunting her.

Week 4 Reading Diary A: Ancient Egyptian Myths & Stories

This week I’m reading the Ancient Egyptian unit, and I LOVE IT. I went to Egypt when I was 10, and I was fairly obsessed with the history of the civilization before and after that trip. I got a gold cartouche necklace with my name written in hieroglyphics when I was there, and I still wear it almost every day. It’s a great conversation starter, especially for people who recognize it as Egyptian! For a time I even wanted to be an egyptologist, but I digress.

My name transcribed in hieroglyphs, though the ancient Egyptians didn't write with vowels. Generated at: Discovering Ancient Egypt

Though I found the Elizabethan English to be a little cumbersome to read, I really enjoyed the stories that I read. One story that I liked in particular was Creation, which details the creation of everything and each of the gods and goddesses that inhabit the universe. I found myself constantly looking up the names of each of the gods and goddesses, though, because they were not usually well explained in the story. Most people probably just go with it, but since I’m really passionate about ancient Egypt, I felt the need to look up each of the deities that I was not familiar with.

I really enjoyed the story of The Journey of Isis, too. Isis and Osiris are the two Egyptian deities with whom I’m the most familiar, so I’m not surprised that I enjoyed the stories about them. I was surprised to learn that I wasn’t completely familiar with the story of Isis after Osiris’ death, as I didn’t know she had to go to Syria to retrieve his body. The more I read these stories, the better I understood the Egyptians to be less isolated than I originally thought. We tend to speak of civilizations such as the Egyptians as discrete from others who might have arisen around the same time period, so it was good to get that notion out of my head.

Extra Reading Diary: Homer's Odyssey

This week, I finished reading Homer’s Odyssey, which I found to be full of wonderful stories and vivid descriptions. In The Ghosts of Famous Women, we meet many famous mythological women who have often been involved with the gods. In particular, I loved hearing about the mother of Heracles (whom many of us know as Hercules), and Megara, who married him. This brought back fond, but most likely inaccurate, memories of one of my favorite Disney films, Hercules, but I digress.

The Ghost of Agamemnon was another interesting tale, as he was not just a mythological person, but actually a real one. Reading about his death was rather tragic, and I could feel the friendship between himself and Odysseus. The fact that his wife had a hand in his death was kind of startling. And then Clytemnestra had to go and kill Cassandra, too? Not cool.

And then The Spirit of Achilles. Having a more extensive background knowledge about Achilles than most of the other characters in Homer’s Odyssey. The way that they address each other and speak about their families in this whole unit is incredibly formal and elaborate, sometimes making it difficult to follow what/whom they are talking about. I've had to stop and really consider what each person is saying when they make these elaborate introductions in order to be able to keep up with what they're saying later in the story.

(The Dying Achilles, by Ernst Herter)

Week 3 Reading Diary A: Homer's Odyssey

Having never read the Odyssey before, I was first really surprised by how gory it was. The descriptions were incredibly vivid and kind of alarming, to be frank. I really enjoyed the stories about Circe, especially the one about Circe’s Magic. I was really surprised when she turned Odysseus’ men into pigs, but was incredibly astonished at his plan to get them back with Hermes’ help.

(Odysseus and Circe, Greek vase painting)

The character of Hermes is really important in this story, as he gives Odysseus the moly that protects him from the drugs that Circe used to entrap his men. Moly is “black at the root with a milk-white flower… difficult for mortals to uproot, though the gods of course can do anything.” Hermes tells Odysseus that the moly will protect him from her drugs and enchantments, and it does, allowing him to rescue his men from her just as Hermes describes to him. I was surprised that they stayed with Circe for over a year, but considering the life of luxury and pleasure that they were leading with her, I’m not sure I would give that up so easily either.

Odysseus is a very intriguing character, and I really enjoyed reading about the challenges he had to overcome in his voyage back home. I’m looking forward to reading more about this!