Storybook Projects: Week 2

Topic: Mermaid Tails (Get it?)
Comments: My favorite movie growing up was The Little Mermaid, which we all know to be a cutesy Disney representation of mermaid folklore. I've always found it interesting, however, that it seems that most other mermaid mythology paints mermaids as dark, malicious creatures, so I'm really interested in finding out all of the different perceptions of mermaids in different cultures.
Possible Stories: I read a storybook about mermaid legends that used some really great stories about mermaids and I recognized some of them when I looked at the Humanity website. D.L. Ashliman also provides different cultures' variations on two different mermaid myths.
Sample Story: On the Humanity website I recognized a story I had seen retold in a storybook about a girl whose twin sister was turned into a mermaid because she went swimming in the ocean on Easter Sunday.
Bibliography Information:
Story Title: The Mermaid's Twin Sister
Book Title: The Mermaid's Twin Sister
Author: Joseph L.
Year: 1994

Topic: Diary of Helen: The Face Before It Launched 1000 Ships
Comments: We traditionally associate Helen of Troy with the incitement of the Trojan War, her face launching a Greek fleet of 1000 ships when she leaves her husband, Menelaus for Paris of Troy. However, before she was Helen of Troy, she was Helen of Sparta, and before that, well we don't talk very much about that, do we? I'm interested in learning about what Helen was like as a girl, and what she was doing before she catalyzed the fall of Troy
Possible Stories: I found a book about Helen by Andrew Lang that chronicles Helen's life from the moment she first met Paris on throughout the Trojan War. It would be interesting to view Trojan War from her perspective and also gain insight on the romance for which an empire was destroyed.
Sample Story:  Book II tells of Helen's flight with Paris at Aphrodite's command. We learn that Helen did not seem to want to leave Sparta but did so out of fear of angering the goddess.
Bibliography Information:
Story Title: "The Spell of Aphrodite"
Book Title: Helen of Troy
Author: Andrew Lang
Year: 2011

Topic: Vampires: Demonic Creatures of the Night or Misunderstood Nocturnes?
Comments: So judge me if you must, but I did indeed go through a bit of a vampire fascination in middle school in which I read whatever vampire fiction I could find (e.g. Cirque Du Freak, Taste of Night, Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, etc.) What I still find interesting about vampire mythology are the pieces of the myth that seem concrete (the feed on blood, have an aversion to sunlight, show decelerated aging, etc.) and those that seem variable (living within society vs separate communities, fangs vs no fangs, and the like). I also find vampire origin stories really cool.
Possible Stories: Montague Summers' The Vampire, His Kith and Kin from the Sacred Texts archive is like a vampire encyclopedia with information about the origin of vampires, the nature of vampirism, vampires in different cultures, and more. There is also a wealth of information about vampires on the vampire Wikipedia page.
Sample Story: I think it would be really interesting to come use the information from Summers' The Origins of the Vampire to create an origin story.
Bibliography Information:
Story Title: "The Origins of the Vampire"
Book Title: The Vampire, His Kith and Kin
Author: Montague Summers
Year: 1928

Topic: Miracles - What We Saw, an Interview with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
Comments: At church once, a guest speaker explained that each of the gospels gave a different type of account of the life of Jesus Christ - one a romance, one a biography, one an action movie, (try as I might I cannot remember what the last is) - and since then, I've really liked the idea of looking at Jesus' life in different lights.
Possible Stories: I'm familiar enough with the gospels that I could probably adapt stories directly from the bible, but I've also found some pretty amazing bible-based storybooks that I can use for inspiration.
Sample Story: I've always loved the account of Jesus feeding the 5,000 and I think it would be fun to make it into more of a story than an account.
Bibliography Information:
Story Title: Jesus Feeds the 5,000
Book Title: The Holy Bible, New International Version
Author: Published by Zondervan
Year: 1978