Storytelling Week 12: The Swing

 The Swing

 Swing. Image source: Pixabay

There once was a mischievous little boy named Tommy who always seemed to get himself into trouble.

One day Tommy decided to go play in the woods. It was a particularly hot day in the middle of the scorching summer they had been having and he knew of a little pond he could go to that would be the perfect way to cool down.

Before leaving, his mother told him not to jump from the swing by the water.

"For if you do...you'll fall and get all scratched up," she warned him.

Tommy brushed it off. This summer was the first that he was tall enough to even reach the swing, so of course he was going to jump from it. All of his friends were already tall enough and doing it and that's all they ever talked about. He couldn't stand being left out any longer.

And so he set off on his journey to the woods. It took him longer than he thought to make it to the pond and by the time he got there, he was exhausted. But of course, that wouldn't detour him from making the jump from the swing.

His eyes darted around, excitedly searching for his adventure waiting to happen...and then he spotted it. The swing. He rushed over and climbed up to the swing, barely making it on.

Despite his exhaustion, he swung. He swung for what seemed like hours. He was absolutely giddy, finally getting to do what he had been dreaming of for years. Back and forth, back and forth, slowly forgetting his tiredness and the heat of the day.

And then the time came...the jump.
He swung up to the highest of heights and let go, free falling to the pond below.

But right away, he realized that he didn't swing out quite far enough to make the cool water. Instead of hitting the pond, he hit the branches sticking up out of the ground.

Blood immediately began to seep out of the scratches on his leg. His mother was right...he should've listened to her advice. Scared and hurt, Tommy hobbled all of the way back home.

Once there, his mother took him in her arms, patching him up and caring to his wounds.

"I knew you would get scratched up," his mother sighed.

"Now I know to always listen to your advice...I'm sorry," Tommy replied.

Author's Note: This story was inspired by A Lion and a Man. It is about a little lion who does not take his father's advice to not fight a man. Instead of listening to his father, he goes to find and fight a man, and of course it does not turn out well. He ends up wounded, but understands that he needs to listen to his father's advice. The moral of the story was "Disobedience to Parents is against the Laws of Nature and of Nations, Common Justice, Prudence and Good Manners; and the Vengeance of Heaven, Sooner or Later, Treads upon the Heels on't." Instead of a lion I decided to make the story about a little boy and bring it into more modern day times.

Bibliography: This fable is part of the Aesop's Fables (English) unit. Story source: Story source: Fables of Aesop and Other Eminent Mythologists by Roger L'Estrange (1692).

Essay: Nursery Rhymes

Myth-Folklore Unit: Nursery Rhymes

This week's reading was an incredible amount of fun. It was a treat to go back into my childhood simply by reading these short nursery rhymes. I had seen a lot of these rhymes before and reading them again as a twenty-one year old was a completely different and interesting experience. The imagination is still there, but with an older and more experienced voice. The fun still existed within the creative words from the author, which was a joy to realize.

(Wikipedia: Hey Diddle Diddle)
I also really enjoyed rewriting Hey Diddle Diddle for my story this week. I heard this rhyme over and over again as a child and being able to create a simple story behind a short nursery rhyme from my childhood. There are so many stories that could be behind or written from such few words, which takes an incredibly level of creativity. I am inspired and aspire to have such creativity in my writing as some of these authors do.

The words used for these rhymes are so fun. The way they're written and the way words that wouldn't normally be in stories are used make these creative rhymes fun to read. I didn't tire of reading any of these. Sometimes I have to push through to finish the week's readings but this week was different and I appreciated that. The writing style was also fun and creative.

Each rhyme was so different, yet each had that playful and joyful quality. The riddles were also a blast - I tried to guess the answer each time, but it was difficult for some of them. Well...mostly all of them.

At first glance since they are so short, there isn't much substance to these rhymes, but when you dive into them you can find a lot of substance and creativity that fills the imagination.

Storytelling Week 11: The Moon Jump

The Moon Jump

Once upon a time, a very long time ago, there lived a cat and a cow.
They were a harmonious two, always following each other and getting along in everything they did.

However, they weren't your ordinary cat and cow.
In fact, the cat knew how to play the fiddle!
Oh, how she would play that thing for hours. And the cow, being the gracious friend he was, would sit and listen to every second of it.

Not only was the cat talented, but the cow also had a few tricks he was proud of. One in particular was the height of his jumps. No cow had EVER reached the height he could reach. He trained day in and day out to reach his height goals and had much to show for it.

One day, the cow got really ambitious.

"I think I'll jump over the moon," he announced to his cat friend.
"You can absolutely do it! I've seen you jump high, and if you go a little further, there's absolutely no stopping you," the cat replied.
The cow truly appreciated his friend's support.

And so he started training more and more to get higher and higher.
However, not everyone was a fan of the cow's jumping skills. The cat and cow's next door neighbor was especially skeptical.
The little dog had only lived there about a year and had watched the cow training the entire time. When he heard about the cow's newest goals, he couldn't even believe his own ears. And everyone knows how much dogs trust their own hearing.

"Ha! There's no way that'll happen. Keep trying," the dog scoffed.
"Oh, I plan on it," replied the cow. He wasn't going to let some little dog get to him or interfere with his heart's desires.

The day finally came. The cow was as prepared as he was going to get.

"Wait! I'll grab my fiddle," the cat said right before the jump. She wanted to give the cow a send-off tune that she had been practicing since he announced the moon jump.

And so the cat started to play.
And then, WOOSH! The cow jumped right over the moon!

Of course the dog was watching and just chuckled to himself.
"He did it...to see such sport!"
He was actually impressed.

When the cow returned, all three celebrated the momentous occasion with a good meal and good company.

(Wikipedia: Hey Diddle Diddle)

Author's Note: I decided to write this story when doing the second half of the readings for this week. I was reading through the nursery rhymes and came across ones that I remembered from my childhood. I was inspired to rewrite one of the ones most familiar to me to see how far my creativity would take me.
"The original rhyme is Hey, Diddle Diddle:
HEY! diddle, diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon;
The little dog laugh'd
To see the sport,
While the dish ran after the spoon."
I left out the dish running away with the spoon, but kept to and expanded upon the rest of the rhyme.
I chose this image because it accurately depicts the story.

Bibliography: This story is part of the Nursery Rhymes unit. Story source: The Nursery Rhyme Book edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke (1897).

Reading Diary B: Aesop's Fables (English)

Myth-Folklore Unit: Aesop's Fables (English)

Wolves (Smart)  

My storybook is about wolves, so of course I chose this one to write about in my reading diary! I find it really cool and interesting that all of the wolves (at least 98 percent of them) are pretty much similar from fable to fable. It makes the wolf's character development really strong. Even though there are multiple wolves, they're all extremely similar and their personalities transfer from story to story. There is no exception here!

Birds (Smart)

These were fun to read and the image here really got into my imagination when I was reading the first story. Vain is definitely what I see when I look at this image and it's definitely what I saw when reading through the first story. 

 

(illustration by Weir)

 

 

 

Reading Diary A: Aesop's Fables (English)

Myth-Folklore Unit: Aesop's Fables (English)

Fables about People (Boothby) 

It's really cool how the fables that are so popular are told through this way. I really liked reading them and seeing how others depicted the stories that I have heard time and time again ever since I can remember. I also appreciated the little notes that described the story so I could get the point and understand which one it was depicting.

 A Lion and a Man (L'Estrange)

 I love Aesop's Fables because of the moral they include at the end. I like to read those first and then read the story to understand more about what the author is trying to accomplish. It's fun to see the creative paths taken to end up at the moral, especially in this one. 

(illustration from Bewick's Aesop)

 

 

Reading Diary B: Nursery Rhymes

Myth-Folklore Unit: Nursery Rhymes

 

Nursery Rhymes: Jingles 

The words used for these rhymes are so fun. The way they're written and the way words that wouldn't normally be in stories are used make these creative rhymes fun to read. I especially liked hey, diddle diddle because I knew this particular rhyme from when I was younger. It'd be fun to re-write something I have known for almost my entire life for my story this week.

Nursery Rhymes: Relics

It was fun to see the rhyme What are Little Boys Made of? I had seen and heard this growing up and it cracked me up to read it again. The Rain, Rain Go Away was fun to read again as well. These are fun and quirky little rhymes that I enjoyed reading again.

 

(Wikipedia: What Are Little Boys Made Of?)

Reading Diary A: Nursery Rhymes

Myth-Folklore Unit: Nursery Rhymes

Nursery Rhymes: Riddles

These were so fun to read! Each one was different, yet each had that playful and joyful quality. I tried to know the answer each time, but it was difficult for some of them. Mostly all of them.

Nursery Rhymes: Games   

I knew some of these, which was neat! It was also fun to read the new ones I haven't seen before. There isn't much substance at first, but when you dive into these rhymes you can find a lot.

(Wikipedia: How Many Miles to Babylon?)