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| The Lady of Shalott by Howard Pyle (1853-1911). Source. The Camelot Project |
This first storybook I chose because I've always found King Arthur stories interesting, but I do not know as much as I would like to about them. Also, because I think that women are often passive characters in western myth and folklore and I like when they are highlighted and given a chance to be true heroines. This title was excellent because not only was it short, but I knew exactly what it would be about and accurately introduced the reader to the topic of the storybook. I thought it was clever to use a background female character as the narrator rather than changing the narrator with every story. I love how the introduction cleverly uses the narrator to highlight that these women are often ignored and seen as less important than the male characters. The layout of the book itself is simple and easy to use. I will most likely use a similar template.
When I clicked on the link to this storybook, I had no idea of what to expect. At first I thought it might say Sea of Monsters, referring to Greek mythology and the Percy Jackson series. When I realized that it was not specific to a particular culture or mythology (though majority was more Greek), I became more interested in how they would be connected. I thought it was clever to use modern technology and narration while telling of ancient monsters and stories. The introduction did an excellent job of setting up the narrator and the story's flow. I liked how the color of the template works for the story also, with deeper blues and darker pictures.
I clicked on this storybook because I love fairy tales, and particularly Charles Perrault. The title Magic of Reading really caught my attention. While I wasn't disappointed by the storybook itself, I didn't think that the title accurately reflected the story. True these are magical stories and we are reading them, but I thought the title meant that reading would lead to some magical circumstance. Also, by placing Perrault's name first in the title, I thought that we would "meet" him as a character. However, it was simply that they were all his stories.
Other than my problem with the title, I thoroughly enjoyed this storybook. I liked how it seemed to be geared towards children and remained consistent with this style of storytelling. I liked the images and the stories. I wasn't a fan of the layout or background image, so I will not be emulating that.
Oh my gosh, this is great, Jillian: you really are working ahead! This is the first Storybook Favorites post. For King Arthur, there is a strong French tradition of Arthurian legends, so that might be a way to combine your interests! And I am glad you saw the variety of ways people choose to tell the stories... and YES, you found the Perrault Storybook. Excellent! I was going to refer you to that one for sure. Perrault is the author people first think of for French fairy tales, but I am more of a fan of D'Aulnoy myself (see my other comment for that). Based on what you looked at here, I am sure you will come up with some fantastic Storybook ideas of your own when you get to that Week 2 assignment. :-)
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