Storybook Favorites

After going through a number of the storybooks provided to us, I have selected three which I particularly enjoyed.

1. My Brothers Grimm

     This storybook was an interesting new take on a set of old classics - the Brothers Grimm's stories, told through the perspective of a secret sister. In this storybook, the author relates the same stories of the Brothers Grimm, but through the eyes of their sister, who claims to be the real reason for all of their successes and grand tales. She talks about confronting them and telling them how she was secretly saving their butts all along, and then offers up her version of several famous stories as evidence. This storybook was intriguing because of its twist on something as well-known as the Brothers Grimm, and the design and layout of the blog lent a foreboding, mysterious atmosphere to the stories as well.

2. Queen of the Underworld

     The second storybook I selected was called "Queen of the Underworld," and it concerns the stories of Persephone, bride of Hades, in ancient Greek mythology. This takes the myths about Persephone - the most famous of which is the myth of Hades abducting her to be his bride in the Underworld, much to the dismay of her mother, Demeter - and offers Persephone's view on them. One thing I enjoyed about this storybook was the variation in the way the story is told. Specifically, much of it is told in simple first person narrative, as though the narrator is talking directly to us, but for the discussion of the abduction myth we are offered insight into the narrator's diary instead. The image below was included at the introduction, which immediately offered an idea of what the storybook would be about and the general tone the reader should expect.

Persephone and Hades

3. Touching the Skye

    The third storybook I chose was actually my favorite and the most genuinely interesting to me. Since I knew precious little about Scottish fairy tales going into this, I really enjoyed getting to learn more about them, and I thought the author's choice to set the story in the 1930s, rather than today, made the story even more interesting by adding another layer. I did wish that there was more to the story, however; it felt as though I got partway into a story and never got to read the ending.