Storybook Brainstorming Styles

Illustration of Firebird by Ivan Bilibin. 

I think the theme I have settled on is the 'birds of mythology' one. I feel that it has a big enough range that I can easily find stories for the project. It's the one that really stood out to me when I made my themes post and is the only one I've really been able to generate style ideas for.

The stories I would like to cover:

Harpy - Wikipedia  Jason and the Argonauts 

Firebird - Wikipedia (There is more than one story about the Firebird on this page. I haven't decided which to go with. I think it depends on which style I pick.)

Thunderbird - Wikipedia Thunderbird and the Whale

Roc - Wikipedia. The 5th Voyage of Sinbad. 

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Frametale - Circus attraction

Similar to Mommy Fortuna's Circus in the Last Unicorn. Stories would be related to people either by tour guide or written in the style of placards. (I think the placards idea would be better suited to the museum idea below).

Frametale - Gathering of Birds

A gathering of mythological birds, perhaps with a reborn phoenix as the narrator as they relearn the stories of their friends.

Anthology - Museum Attractions

Written in the style of placards for a museum exhibit on mythological birds.

 Framtelate - Told by normal birds

At one time, my roommate and I had 8 birds between us (3 parakeets, 3 finches, a cockatiel and a lovebird). It was always fun to listen to them talk to each other. Perhaps the stories are told by normal birds, boasting about their supposed ancestors? I can imagine my lovebird proudly boasting of being a descendent of a mighty roc, as evidenced by the time he tried to eat the cat!

Storybook Brainstorming Topics

Finding four topics was really hard. I imagine brainstorming for styles will be even harder.

Baba Yaga's Hut from MrPsMythopedia.

Topic: Houses in the Woods
Comments: Pretty common theme in fairy tales to wander into the woods and stumble across a dwelling, or even to go looking for it on purpose. Some of the storybooks I looked at for last week's post used places as the connecting theme.
Possible Stories: Hansel and Gretel, Vasilisa, Maol a Chliobain, Brother and Sister, maybe Red Riding Hood.
Sample Story: Vasilisa the Beautiful has the hut of Baba Yaga. Instead of happening upon it by accident, she is sent there on purpose and has to work for what she came for. (Similar but distinct from the other 'House' stories.)
Biblio: Vasilisa the Beautiful from Russian Fairy Tales collected by Alexander Afanasyev between 1855-63.

Topic: Creation Myths
Comments: In my previous mythology class, I had to write my own creation myth as the final assignment, and in my 'American Indian' class, I did a presentation comparing and contrasting Native American creation myths with myths found elsewhere in the world that fell into similar themes (World Parent, Ex Nihilo, etc). Creation myths are my thing, so why not put them on the table?
Possible Stories: Golden Chain (Yoruban), Odin and Ymir (Norse), Pangu (Chinese), Egyptian Creation, Japanese Creation.
Sample Story: I really like the Golden Chain myth. It is an Earth Diver type myth, but what I find so interesting is how connected Obatala is in the lives of his creations and the fact that he has help, before and afterwards.
Biblio: The Origin of Life on Earth: An African Creation Myth by David A. Anderson, 1991.

Topic: Nursery Rhymes and Pie
Comments: There sure are a lot of pie rhymes...it'd be neat to do this one in the style of a cooking show.
Possible Stories: Sing a Song of Sixpence, Simple Simon, Little Jack Horner, If All the World Was Apple Pie, The Queen of Hearts
Sample Story: The Queen of Hearts cooking show, the episode we get to see is about pies and tarts. Her recipe is Sing a Song of Sixpence, she regales us with the story of little Jack Horner, the amusing side story that takes place to pad the show is Simple Simon (as the knave of Hearts??) trying to get a pie and her catchphrase is "If All the World Was Apple-Pie..."
Biblio: The Queen of Hearts edited by Andrew Lang, 2008

Topic: Mythological Birds
Comments: Birds are my favourite animals and there are lots of mythological birds! It was harder to find actual myth stories about them rather than just generalised information.
Possible Stories: Raven, King of Parakeets, Firebird, Thunderbird, Roc
Sample Story: The King of Parakeets is interesting as it reminds me of the tale of the Nightingale, being stuck in a cage and made to sing, except the King of the Parakeets is smart (just like real parakeets) and escapes!
Biblio: King of Parakeets from Nanggroe Aceh Darusalam (2012?)