Reading Diary B - Italian Fairy Tales

If you weren't convinced but my diary from yesterday, hopefully this one will do the trick. Read this unit! Seriously, you will not regret it. There are several great stories throughout this unit that everyone can enjoy reading from all ages. One of the cool parts of this unit is that several of the stories are pretty similar to the American fairy tales I grew of reading and hearing. Most of the stories will have something different to them or maybe different characters. Looking for a fun read? Look no further! Italian Fairy Tales is the answer!

Reading Diary A - Italian Fairy Tales

Wow! What a cool unit. I read Italian Fairy Tales for my final unit in the course. After reading the first half of this unit, I can already tell this may be one of my favorites yet. The stories are so unique and interesting. The writing style is pretty simple to read too. My favorite story was called Water and Salt. This story is about a king and his three daughters. When the youngest daughter says she loves him like water and salt, the king has her killed. Luckily, the guards kill a goat instead to act like they killed the princess. A magician finds the girl and saves her. A young prince falls in love with her and during the wedding, they invite kings to come join them, including her father. When they serve the king food without salt and no water, she reveals who she is and why salt and water are so important. They all live happily ever after.

Salt + Water

Reading Diary A - Beauty and the Beast

This unit was great! It is retold by Joseph Jacobs who help mix and match some of the classic stories. I had fun reading these cool stories in the first part of this unit such as Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella. Of course, my favorite was my childhood's favorite story - Beauty and the Beast! It was full of energy and depth and was different than what I had expected. Everyone go read this!!

Beauty and the Beast

Reading Diary B - Nursery Rhymes

The second part to this unit was just as good as the first. It was fool of jingles, stories and relics. I really enjoyed reading some of the jingles. They were al super short, but a lot of fun to read. The second part of the unit was easy to read and gave a cool British vibe. I would encourage anyone to read this unit over nursery rhymes becasue they are all relatable and nostalgic. Don't believe me? Go check it out for yourself!

Picture from the riddle "Hey Diddle Diddle"

Reading Diary A - Nursery Rhymes

I chose to read the unit on nursery rhymes. This unit from the British Isles was pretty interesting. It was full of different nursery rhymes and stories. From tales and proverbs to songs and riddles, the first part of this unit had a lot to choose from. When I chose to read this unit, I thought I would know a lot of the stories, but I was unfamiliar with most of them. This made it pretty interesting and they were all super easy reads. Of course there was the classic Humpty Dumpty riddle which was always one of my favorites. I would encourage you to take a step back into your childhood and check out some of these stories for yourself!

Humpty Dumpty

Reading Diary B- More Celtic Stories

I thought the second half of this unit was even better then the first! I had a great time reading this one story about the Farmer of Liddesdale. It was just a simple and cool story about a farmer who had a bad year and received help form a random ploughman. Strange things happen, but the farmer is able to get his farm ploughed. The language is really different and sometimes hard to understand, but it helps give a Celtic feel. I'd recommend this reading to anyone!

The ploughman.

Reading Diary A - Celtic Fairy Tales

I chose to read the first half of Celtic Fairy Tales. This is unit is pretty interesting and has a lot of un stories. Most of the stories go together. It is fun to read these stories in an Irish accent too! I read a really cool story called Dream of Owen O'Mulready. This was a cool story where Owen was envious that he had never had a dream. When he finally got one, he had some crazy stories and didn't care to have another one. It was a great read!

Owen O'Mulready

Great Plains - Reading Diary B

The second part to this unit was just as good as the first. There were various stories about animals and spirits and some uniques spins on how certain things were created. Each story brought something new and the writing was very simple and easy to understand. It is cool to read these stories and realize how they are passed down from different generations.

One of my favorite satires form this unit was about deer. One story talked about how the deer got its antlers and the other talked about how the deer got his teeth.

This was a fun unit to read and was very interesting!

The deer.

Photo Cred: Pixaby

Great Plains - Reading Diary A

This is the second week of reading Native American myths and stories and I am really enjoying it. Today, I read the first half of a unit from Great Plains Native Americans. Their myths were full of interesting and unique stories. Like the Cherokee myths I read last week, the Great Plains stories were full of talking animals, gods and spirits.

I thought the first story in the unit was most interesting, it was over Creation. In the story, the Osage tribe was in the sky before creation and the moon said he and the sun were their parents and they must go to the earth. When the Osage went to the earth, they could only see water and were sad. They sent the elk down to vanish the water and some of the ager uplifted and they found rocks. As more water vanished the tribe and animals finally found the soft earth and were able to grow crops and food. 

The great elk who saved the tribe.

Photo Cred: Pixaby

Reading Diary A: Cherokee Myths

I read Myths of the Cherokee. The first half of this unit holds a lot of interesting stories. The myths include stories about their version of the world's creation and some stories have animals that can talk while other stories are about things that are sacred to them. My favorite story was How They Brought Back Tobacco. In the story there is only one tobacco plant in the beginning of the world and everyone uses it until geese take it away. When a women is about to die because she doesn't have tobacco, different animals try and fail to retrieve the tobacco plant. Then a hummingbird successfully steals the plant and saves the woman! It was really interesting and fun read.

Tobacco Plant.

Photo Cred: Electric Freeze

South African Folktales - Reading Diary B

The second part of this unit was full of more great stories from South African Folktales. A lot of the stories used animals as characters and the folktales used many of the same characters throughout the various folktales. I was really surprised to find that some of the stories were pretty dark. For example in the folktale, Jackal and Monkey, the jackal tricks the monkey into a trap made by the farmer. The farmer made the trap to catch the animal who had been stealing his sheep. The notorious jackal was caught after stealing a sheep and the monkey taunted him. The jackal tricked the monkey into letting him out of the trap and the monkey was caught in replace of the jackal. The jackal wouldn't help the monkey escape and left him to receive the wrath of the farmer. When the farmer arrived to the trap in the morning, he saw the monkey and believed it was the animal stealing his sheep. He shot the monkey and the jackal lived another day.

(chacma baboon)

South African Folktales - Reading Diary A

I chose to read the first half of South African Folktales this week for my reading diary. It was a really interesting and offered a lot of good options to read from. Similar to the Nigerian Folktales that I read about last week, these folktales contain a lot of stories about animals.

My favorite story was called the Monkey's Fiddle. This story was about a monkey who had obtained a fiddle and bow and arrow from his great uncle. On his journey home, the monkey helped a wolf kill a deer for dinner and after the meal was prepared, the wolf grew jealous of the monkey's weapon and wanted to take it from in. When the two got into a quarrel, they had to take their argument to court to see who the bow and arrow belonged to. The wolf lied and said it was his and the court believed him.

Then the monkey started playing his fiddle and the entire court couldn't stop dancing due to its magical powers. He said he'd stop playing if he could have his bow and arrow back and the wish was granted.

(vervet monkey)

Reading Diary B - Nigerian Folktales

I found the Japanese unit to be a little boring, so I decided to change to a new unit! I read through the Nigerian Folktales and found some super interesting stories! A lot of these stories included animals that had big personalities and character. My favorite story in the unit was called The Fish and the Leopard's Wife. This story was really unique because the story was literally about a leopard and a walking fish. The two animals were best friends and the fish visited the leopard's home often.

Here is the kicker - the fish has an affair with the leopard's beautiful wife (How a fish and a leopard have an affair, I don't know...). When the leopard finds out about this we wants to kill the fish but spares his life because he is his friend. Instead, he informs the king about the situation. King Eyo then proclaims that fish will never be able to walk again and both animals and humans are allowed to kill fish at anytime they want.

So, if you have been curious as to why fish cannot breathe out of water, it is because one fish had an affair with a leopards wife.

The mighty leopard.

Photo Cred: Wikimedia

Reading Diary A - Japanese Mythology

This unit on Japanese Mythology includes stories from gods, Izanagi and Izanami, and their children: the sun goddess Amaterasu and her brother Susanowo along with other stories from Japanese mythology. Written in modern English, these stories are easy to read and provide a lot of knowledge to the Japanese culture. My favorite story in the first unit is The Miraculous Mirror. This story portrays Amaterasu's personality and actions. Fueled with different gods from Japanese mythology, this story does a great job of giving some insight into the culture's mythology. The stories in this unit are quite different then the ones I have read the past few weeks. It was cool to read some of these myths in a different perspective. I haven't really learned too much about Japanese culture and mythology, so I'm excited to read the rest of this unit!

(illustration from the book)

Persian Fairy Tales - Reading Diary B

In the second part of this unit on Persian Fairy Tales, I read more stories from Persian folklore. I really enjoyed this second unit because all the stories were interesting and really kind of random. These stories are true fairy tales that make you use a lot of imagination.

For example, the story of The Shepherd Who Found A Treasure talks of a fly that is another person's soul! Let me explain....

There are two shepherds. One is sleeping and one is watching the flock. The one watching the flock notices a fly that lights up come from the other shepherds nose. He believes this to be the other shepherds soul. When the flock of sheep gets away he wakes up the other shepherd. He then asks the shepherd if he can hear his dream. The sleeping shepherd reveals his dream about a treasure. The shepherd knows this dream has to be true and goes to find the treasure and never has to watch sheep another day in his life.

These Persian Fairy Tales are pretty interesting!

This fly that lights up represents a man's soul!

Photo Cred: Flickr

Persian Tales - Reading Diary A

In the beginning of the first unit of Persian Fairy Tales, many stories are introduced from Persian folklore. A lot of these stories are ones that seem you would hear as a kid. These fairy tales often contain animals or imaginative figures as the characters. In the first unit, my favorite story was at the beginning of the story.

The Wolf and the Goat is in a sense, a different version of the classic Little Red Riding Hood mixed with some twists and major changes. In the story, three goats are left alone at home as the mother goats goes to find food for her children. When she leaves, a wolf disguises himself as the mother goat and kidnaps the goats.

When the mother goat returns, she goes to the wolf's house to pick a fight. She sharpens her horns and prepares to take on the wolf. When the wolf falls into the water, the mother goats kills him with her horn. She brought her goats home and the story ends.

It was an interesting story and honestly a little weird. I think it is cool reading stories being passed along in other cultures. These stories are are a good way to understand more about the Persian culture.

A Mother Goat and her son.

Photo Cred: Smithsonian National Zoo

Folklore of Holy Land - Reading Diary B

In the second part of the unite, Folklore of the Holy Land, I was able to read various bible stories told from different views. The second part of this unity told stories of the death of Aaron and Moses, Solomon, Elijah and St. George and more. My favorite story in this unit is the story of David.

This story has always fascinated me, so it caught my interest from the beginning. This particular story was told from an Islamic folklore which made it interesting to see the differences and similarities.

David was a mighty kind who served Allah. One day, David decided to disguise himself and go into town to see what the people truly thought of his kingdom and the way he governed. An angel disguised as a human told him that he is frustrated because the king uses the money of the public treasury instead of working for his money. This troubled David so he began working to earn money for his family, alms and the construction of the temple.

The story moves on to David inside the temple. After reading the backstory of David's want of Bathsheba, we learn that David is plotting to have his friend, Uriah killed (he is the husband of Bathsheba).

I found the ending most interesting. When he realizes the sin he commits and Uriah's death, David asks for forgiveness. Uriah spoke down form heaven and says he forgives David because for one wife, Allah has given him 1,000 in heaven.

David asks forgiveness from Allah.

Photo Cred: Wikimedia

Folklore of the Holy Land - Reading Diary A

I began reading Folklore of the Holy Land unit. My favorite story in the beginning of this unit was the story of Job and his family. I am familiar with this story from a Christian perspective, but the specific story came from an Islamic legend. It was interesting to see the similarities and differences between the two religions of the same story. The language was a little different such as calling God, "Allah" and the devil, "Iblis." These arabic terms added the to tradition of these legends.

To summarize, Job was a man who loved God, and God tested his faith through both physical and mental pain. He became extremely sick, lost his family, lost his home, but still never lost faith in God. In this story, God rewards him for his faith and gives all these things back and more. I was most surprised when Job promises to beat his wife if Allah heals him. In the end. he chooses to show her some mercy, but this still shocked me that this legend consists of a man threatening to beat his wife who had shown him love and nourishment for seven years.

I enjoyed the beginning of this unit because I am familiar with a lot of the stories, but they are all told in different ways. It is interesting to see how different religions and cultures change stories and pass them on through traditions.

I am looking forward to reading the rest of this unit and finding out what else is in store!

Job is covered in sores.

Photo Cred: Wikipedia

Legends of Noah - Reading Diary B

In the second part of this unit, Legends of Noah, I was able to read from the Legends of the Jews by Luis Ginzberg. This was very interesting because it depicted scripture from the bible in a different way. The text is easier to read and understand it makes it feel as if the story is a fairytale. Ginzberg walks through the story of Noah and the flood all the way to the Tower of Babel.

My favorite story in the second part of the unit is The Inmates of the Ark. This section begins by Noah gathering the hundreds of animals to go inside the ark and the corrupted people who were to be left behind pleading to Noah to let them on the ark. Noah denied their access saying they had turned away from God and just want to turn back so they can survive.

Noah then takes every animal two by two on the ark. I thought it was interesting that Ginzberg says there was an animal that couldn't come inside the ark, the reem. Apparently, the deem was too massive to come inside the ark so Noah tied it to the back of the ark and it ran along with the boat.

Noah also let the giant Og, the king of Bashan ride on top of the ark because he promised he would be his slave.

These extra add-ons to the story are a fun way to make the story even more interesting.

Og and the Reem.

Photo Cred: UnTextbook

Legends of Noah - Reading Diary A

The unit on The Legends of Noah begins with scripture from Genesis and the story of Noah and the ark. The first half of the unit walks through the life of Noah in Genesis and adds some myths and legends such as the story of the Fallen Angels that depicts angels sent to punish fallen angels and corrupt people. My favorite part of the reading was the story of Noah and the ark. This incredible story is known by most people. 

In the story, Noah is a good man who God chooses to use in a big way. God looks down on the earth and is disgusted by the corruption that is consuming people. "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them," said the Lord.

He decides to flood the earth and wipe out the shameful people. He tells Noah to build an ark for him and his family. He is then to gather two every animal on the earth to rest in the ark for safety during the flood. Noah follows God's commands and he is saved from the flood.

I like this story because it is honestly insane! I mean think about it, water once flooded the entire world because people were so corrupt, God had no other choice. I can't imagine what must have been going through Noah's head while building this ark. It has been cool to see the story passed on from generation to generation through books and movies. I admire Noah's trust and faith in his beliefs.

The ark providing safety to animals during the flood.

Photo Cred: Charlotte Smith