Jewish Fairy Tales - Extra Reading Diary

The Giant of the Flood: Noah gathered all of the animals in the ark that he built. He really wants to get a unicorn and put it on the ark. A giant then brought him a unicorn. Noah said he would feed the giant and also keep him on the Ark.  The giant sacrificed an animal in order to get food. The giant then lied to Noah, and perished because of it. I like this story because it teaches you to always live up to your word. Honesty is a very important lesson to learn in life.

The Beggar King: The priest read a story from the holy book that the King did not like. That is because it said “Riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation.” He then ripped the passage from the book. While hunting, a deer led him to a genie that was to teach him a lesson. The genie became king, and King Hagag was no longer in charge. Once he learned his lesson, he became king once again. I like King Hagag. He was a king that once didn’t appreciate beggars, but now is a good king to all of his people, even the poor.

The Quarral of the Cat and Dog: The dog and the cat were good friends. They decided to part ways after struggling to survive together. The cat immediately found sanctuary in Adam, while the dog struggle to find food and shelter for quite some time. Unknowingly dog stumbled upon the cat’s new home and they could not stop quarrelling with each other.  In this story dog went through many struggles, while cat stumbled upon an easier path. Dog was willing to make amends with cat, but cat was not able to stop quarrelling. This story was really interesting and insightful. I believe the dog can symbolize people that have had to work hard to find their way, while the cat could be seen as someone not willing to make sacrifices.

The Water-Babe: Princess Bathia found a child in the water she called Moses. The Pharaoh believed that Moses had alternative motives because he came from the river. However, he was just an ordinary boy with many questions he wanted answered.  This story was an interesting taken on the biblical story of Moses.

Etching by Hendrick Hondius

From Shepherd Boy to King: David found a magic mountain where no tree or shrub grew.  David said this is not a mountain, but a unicorn.  Suddenly a lion appeared, and David needed saving. A deer saved David from the lion and lead the lion astray. He later remembered this experience years later when he was King of Israel and sung about his experience.

The Magic Palace: Ibrahim was a respected and cultured man in his town. He soon fell into poverty and his family began to suffer.  His pride kept him from seeking the help of friends and he went to strangers for work.  I really liked this story. Ibrahim was my favorite character because he was very prideful and wanted to help is family in a discrete way.

UnTextbook: Top 5 Units

There are many interesting units in this UnTextbook, but I will share with you my five favorites, in no order.

The first unit that grabs my attention is Egyptian Myth. Egyptian stories have always intrigued me, and from reading a few of these stories, I am definitely looking forward to reading into this unit more.

Another unit that interests me is Jamaican Stories. This category just interests me because of its tropical location. It would be interesting to read into what types of myths people that live in Jamaica heard growing up.

Cherokee Myths is another unit that I feel I would interested in. I am Cherokee myself, so reading into some of the myths of my people would be very educational and fun for me. This might be the unit I am most excited for!

The final unit that I am interested in is the Twenty-Two Goblins unit. It is a bunch of different stories that are told by a goblin! This to me is a very creative way to get a story across to people, and is the main reason I am interested in this unit.

Barque of the Sun-God, Ra

Storybook Favorites

The first storybook that really caught my eye was Monster Hunter. What really pulled me in to even start reading it was the title. The title makes it sound like its full of scary stories that are full of action. Which is my kind of story. I really enjoyed the background image on the storybook of a dark room with a fireplace flickering in the background. It really helped pull the scary theme together. I also really enjoyed the introduction and each story alike. I liked the idea of an old man telling the stories as if he were an old war veteran telling war stories.

The next storybook I was fond of pulled me in for another reason. This storybook is called A Grim Look at Grimm Tales. Of course I would have interest in this since my last name is Grim.  I like that they went with classic tales written by the Grimm brothers. I also really enjoyed the set up of the storybook, as it was set up to be like a television talk show. I also thought it was very creative to have Rapunzel and her friends watching this show, and during commercial breaks you could read commentary from Rapunzel and crew.

The last storybook that I am going to talk about is one called Louisiana Animal Folk Tales. I really liked the host of this storybook, Henry the Alligator.  In the introduction he talks about how we should be scared of him since he is an alligator, and I found that very entertaining.  Henry goes on telling us about different tales of animals and their adventures. The introduction does a great job of giving you a preview of the different stories, as well as setting a scene in 

 which the stories will be told. I also enjoyed the Mardi Gras theme of the entire storybook.

Werewolf. Web Source: Werewolf

Introduction: Steven Grim

Hello All,

My name is Steven Charles Grim. I am a senior in the Energy Management program here at the University of Oklahoma. Both of my parents went to the University of Oklahoma, so I always knew that is where I wanted to go. I started out as an Aerospace Engineering major here at OU, but after two years in the major, I decided that it was not the right major for me. I will go ahead and say that it was the greatest decision I have ever made. I am enjoying my new major one thousand percent more than I did my old major. I have lived in many different states in my life. I was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I only lived there for less than a year, so I don’t remember much about it. I then moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico in which I lived for five years. One of my favorite memories about living in New Mexico was going to the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque. It is one of the biggest hot air balloon festivals in the world! As a child, I really enjoyed going to that. After that, I lived in Phoenix, Arizona for a couple of years, and then moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where I still currently reside. I have many hobbies, which include duck hunting, fishing, and golfing.  I look forward to my final semester here at the University of Oklahoma. In my final semester, I am enrolled in fifteen credit hours. The classes I am enrolled in are as following: Mythology and Folklore, Negotiation, Law of Commercial Transactions, Climate and Renewable Energy, and Business Strategy and Policy. I am looking forward to each and every one of these classes for different reasons. Thanks for taking time to read a little bit about me, and I look forward to getting to know a little bit about each one of you.

This is a photo of the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. Pictured is at least 137 balloons. Picture taken by Bill Johnson in October 2006. Web Source: WikiMedia

Week 1 Storytelling: Peter Piper's Promising Passage

Peter Piper was a very prudent person.  Peter was scared of things that the preponderance of people were not afraid of. For instance, Peter is petrified of the Pink Panther, a cartoon character. Peter, along with a plethora of others, didn’t enjoy going into the Prickly Pear Park because of all the spooky purple people eaters. Purple people eaters are some of the most perverse predators in Peter’s home village, Pepper Palace. But the Prickly Pear Park was the only place you could obtain pickled peppers, Peter Piper’s most prized pleasure.  Peter decided to forget about his preposterous fears, and journey into the Prickly Pear Park.  Peter parked his Prius in the parking lot next to the Prickly Pear Park and began his passage towards the pickled peppers. As he proceeded, he heard many noises, which he predicted was coming from the purple people eaters. Purple people eaters are known to steal pickled peppers from people in the park. As Peter peers over his shoulder, he proceeds to pick a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers he did pick. As Peter walks back to the protection of his Prius, he dreams about the perfect pickled peppers that he has just picked. He planned on making pickled pepper pie whenever he got home. Peter finally proceeded to his home on the prairie, and went to grab his pickled peppers. To his surprise, the peck of pickled peppers had vanished. Peter Piper pondered to himself, “if I picked a peck of pickled peppers, where is the peck of pickled peppers that I picked.” He then realized that a wild pack of purple people eaters most have snatched it from him when he was not looking. Peter Piper silently wept to himself as he pictured himself never getting to eat a pickled pepper again. Peter pledged to never pass into the Prickly Pear Park again…

This is an illustration by Charles Badboych of his interpretation of a Purple People Eater.  It can be found online here: Deviant Art

 

Author's Note

This story is based on the nursery rhyme "Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Pepper" which can be found in The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang (1897). The original nursery rhyme can be found quoted below: 

"PETER PIPER picked a peck of pickled pepper;
A peck of pickled pepper Peter Piper picked;

If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper,
Where's the peck of pickled pepper Peter Piper picked?"

I picked this nursery rhyme because it was one of my favorites as a kid. I always enjoyed attempting to say "tongue twisters" which this nursery rhyme surely is. I thought it would be fun to try and include as many words that begin with a "P" as I possibly could. I hope you enjoyed my rendition of this classic rhyme.

Favorite Place - Hawaiian Paradise

I have visited the Hawaiian Islands twice in my lifetime, and both times I was amazed with the beauty of the islands. I visited Oahu, and Maui. Most think of Hawaii as a place swarmed with beaches, but below is one of my favorite pictures that represents the mountains, and volcanoes that all of the Hawaiian Islands posses. I look forward to returning to this paradise soon.

This is an image of the Hawaiian Mountains uploaded by tpsdave 1 year ago. Web Source: Pixabay