Reading Diary B: More English Fairy Tales(Continued)

The Children in the Wood

I really liked that this story was actually a poem! There was a poem in one of the stories in Through the Looking Glass but, it was a poem within a story instead of just a stand-alone poem. It is funny how as soon as you start reading a poem you read it with a certain rhythm or flow. The poem started out quite sad and depressing. Those poor kids lost both of their parents at the same time and were forced to live with an uncle who pretended to be nice while actually plotting their deaths. As soon as I read that the parents were rich and were leaving their children with a large sum of money, I knew that the uncle was going to get greedy and try to get rid of the children and take the money. I’m glad that he got what he deserved at the end.

Old Mother Wiggle-Waggle

This poem was so much fun! I knew I was going to enjoy it as soon as I read the title. My favorite part of the poem is that every stanza ended with a variation of “o”(hey-o, fox-o, den-o). I think this poem would be a cool thing to read to kids(if you leave out the end about picking bones out of their teeth) because they would be able to participate by saying the “o” parts. 

(Illustrated by John D. Batten)

Reading Diary A: More English Fairy Tales

More English Fairy Tales

The Pied Piper

The more and more I think about it, I do not think that I have ever actually read the story of The Pied Piper. I’ve heard of the story and I know the basics of the story but I have never read it. The most memorable reference of this tale for me is the version of the Piper in the Shrek movie. I always thought the Pied Piper was a bad guy who lured children to their doom. I had no idea that the only reason why he took the children of the town is because the mayor did not hold up hi end of the deal and refused to pay the Piper.  

Scrapefoot

When I read this title I had no idea that it was basically Goldie Locks and the Three Bears! I’ve never read or heard of another version of this story before but I found Scrapefoot to be adorable! Poor Scrapefoot. I didn’t think that the bears were actually going to throw him out of the window. Imagine if the bears in Goldie Lock’s version did that to her.

The Three Wishes

The only thing I have to say about this story is that the Woodman and his wife wasted a great opportunity. 

(Scrapefoot by John D. Batten)

Extra Reading Diary: Aesop's Fables(English)

Aesop’s Fables (English)

I really enjoyed all of the Aesop’s Fables that I read in the previous units so, I obviously had to read the fables of this unit as well. The Aesop’s Fables of the other units were quite similar and followed the same basic layout. The fables of this unit are kind of different. I felt that the fables of this unit flowed differently than the fables of the previous units. The previous fables had more dialogue in them and felt more like stories. The English fables seemed to be structured more like poems. Most of the stories got right to the point or moral of the story. I also noticed that the fables of this unit had dialect. At first I thought they were just typos but then I noticed that it was the dialect that the author was using. 

(Picture illustrated by Arthur Rackham)

Reading Diary B: The Looking Glass (continued)

My Own Invention

When Alice mentioned Punch and Judy I got so excited. I just learned about the Mr. Punch puppet show a week ago while watching a Buzzfeed video. The video discussed the origins of different sayings and I learned that the saying “pleased as punch” is in reference to the Mr. Punch puppet show. It was such a great coincidence that I watched that video because it allowed me to understand the reference Alice was making comparing the knights and the puppet. Other than my excitement over the Mr. Punch reference, this story was not my favorite. I tried and tried but I could not get into this story. The first half of the story was great but this half did not capture much of my attention. The knights just were not as interesting as Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

(illustration by John Tenniel)

Reading Diary A: Through the Looking-Glass

Through the Looking-Glass

I was so excited to start reading this story! I read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland when I was in elementary school but I never got around to reading the second novel, Through the Looking-Glass. It seems like this school year has been full of Alice in Wonderland for me. I wrote my final capstone paper on the character of Alice and her self-concept and stages of her self-identity. I had to watch both the animated version and the live action remake with Johnny Depp. I also had to reread some of the first novel and do a lot of research on Carrol’s process when writing the character of Alice. I also remember seeing the remake for the first time. It was my first 3D IMAX movie and I saw it with one of my best friends.

Tweedledum and Tweedledee

Tweedledum and Tweedledee are two of my favorite characters besides the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat. I remember reading Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and being slightly confused whenever the two boys would speak but also laughing once I finally figured out what they were talking about. I love the way they always contradict each other like many siblings do. The poem that they recited in the story was quite entertaining. I could actually picture the boys reciting this poem to Alice. Poor Alice, constantly being told that you are not real must be quite frustrating! 

(Illustration by John Tenniel)

Extra Reading Diary Week 10

Tejas Legends 


How the North Wind Lost His Hair

As a Texan, I was really excited to read these stories. When I was in elementary school, we took a field trip to a Native Museum and the guide told us some stories from some of the Native American tribes in Texas. I really enjoyed this story. I see Spanish moss all of the time back home and I ever really knew what it was called but I knew that it kind of creeped me out. Its grey color always gave it an eerie feel but this story has made me look at Spanish moss in a whole new light. I love the idea that the moss is actually North Wind’s hair! It actually makes sense. It hardly ever gets cold and Texas and now I know that it is because South Wind fought the North Wind and scared him away! Such a fun and cool story! 

The Cottonwood Remembers

When I think of cottonwood trees, I think of my Grandparents’ house. There are tons of cottonwood trees where my grandparents live. Whenever my cousins and I would go outside and play, there would always be cotton floating around in the air. We would sometimes make a game of it and see who could try and catch the most cotton. This story is quite sad and nostalgic at the same time. I liked that it explained multiple things as opposed to just why the cottonwood’s seeds fly off and travel through the air. The poor owl and loon were cursed and the poor pigeon’s wife dies all because of a misunderstanding.  Not only does this story serve as a good origin story but it also serves as a lesson in communication. 

(Cottonwood Tree in the Fall)

Week 10 Storytelling: The Secret

The Secret

At my age, I knew that it was only a matter of time before I had to find a wife. The task proved difficult for me for I was not like other “men.” As a matter of fact, I was not a man at all. I searched and searched for a wife until I finally came across a widow looking for a suitor for her daughter. The only condition she had was that the man who would marry her daughter had to be a good hunter. I was not the best of hunters but I was desperate for love that I lied and told her that I was a great hunter. Soon, our marriage was arranged and I went to live with my new wife.

Hiding my secret from my new wife and her mother was a difficult task. When I felt the change happening, I would rise early in the morning and leave and not return until late that night. The first time this happened, my wife’s mother questioned my sudden departure. When she asked where I was going, I almost made the mistake of saying hunting but quickly changed my mind. Hunting was definitely not the smartest thing I could have said. As I mentioned before, I was a terrible hunter. If I traveled down that path, she would definitely grow suspicious. Instead, I simply said, “Fishing.” This too was a dumb decision because I realized that she would expect me to come home with a mountain of fish.  Before returning home, all I could find were three measly guppies. I saw the questioning look in her eye and tried to curb her doubt by telling her that I would be more successful tomorrow. This became a never-ending cycle until one day; I finally had to change up my excuse. Once again my mother in law asked where I was going but this time I said, “Hunting.” I returned later that night with only two duwë'gä (lizards) and I knew I was in trouble. The other men of the tribe had gone hunting that day too but unlike me, they came home with many cuts of deer.

I knew my time was running out but as hard as I tried I could not stop the change. Once again, I rose early and left my wife and mother in law. I went down to the river like I did every morning and waited for my transformation to begin. Once in my true form, I dove down into the water and caught a crawfish. Crawfish were my favorite snack and I was quite pleased with how swiftly I spotted and captured my prey. With the crawfish in hand, I flew back down to the shore and took my human form and began to walk home. When I walked through the door, my wife began to question me about my lack of fish. I quickly explained to her that as I was fishing, an owl swooped down and scared away the fish. Then, my wife gave me a look; a look that I knew meant that my secret was out. She yelled at me and said, “You’re the owl! I thought I married a man but I married an owl!” Those were the last words my wife ever spoke to me. She ran me out of the house and I took shelter in the woods. That is where I have been ever since; grieving the love that I once had. The love that I wanted more than anything else in the world. The love that I knew I would never have again.  

(Barn Owl or Lulu)

Author's Note: In this story, an old woman tries to find a good hunter to marry her daughter. The man that the old woman picks, turns out to have a secret; he is not a man but an owl. In the end, the two women find out the husband's secret and drives him out of the house. The story is told from the two women's point of view but I wanted to write about the husband/owl's side of the story.

Bibliography: This story is based on the story, The Owl Gets Married from the book, Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney (1900).