Tin Hau Temple (Mosaic Art Source)
This storybook retells three ancient Chinese fairy tales and compares them to classic American fairy tales and bedtime stories that the storybook's author heard growing up. I enjoyed the author's introduction, in which he explains that his motivation for creating this storybook stems from his childhood affinity for bedtime stories and from his marriage to a Chinese woman. After reading the introduction, I felt that I knew exactly what I would be reading and why this storybook exists in the first place.
The title, Ancient Chinese Fairy Tales, is very clear, especially combined with the author's statement in the introduction that his purpose is to retell a number of these fairy tales. I knew ancient Chinese fairy tales existed before this storybook, but I had never been exposed to any.
The design of the site is clean and pleasant, and it does bring to mind images of Chinese culture. I like the blossoming tree branch at the top of the page; it's not distracting and it definitely adds to the look of the site. The navigation bar is easy to use and the font is nice and simple.
The city of Ayodhya, where the "show" takes place.
This storybook is a spin-off of the popular show Law & Order, focusing on a variety of shape shifters in Indian epics. I think it's a really clever and unique way of introducing characters and their stories, and the title itself made me want to read further into the storybook. As with the previous storybook, I knew that shape shifters in Indian epics existed, but I had never heard their specific stories. I like that the storybook's author chose a pretty specific topic (shape shifters) and then took that topic in an interesting and humorous direction.
The introduction is written in the voice of the Law & Order narrator, which is funny and kept me entertained enough to move on and read some of the individual stories. I liked that in the introduction the author gave us some specific information on the stories we would be reading; it's a good way to pique interest and keep the audience reading. I understood what the storybook was about and what each story would be about by the end of the introduction, which I appreciate.
The author seems to have chosen a stark, almost futuristic theme, which goes well with the typical aesthetics of Law & Order. I would have liked to see a better picture on the site's homepage.
This storybook discusses birth and death stories of various characters in Indian epics and the importance of the different "elements" (water, wind, earth, fire) in these stories. I think this is such a creative idea and shows that the author put a lot of thought into the topic. She discusses the symbolism of each element and how this symbolism is significant in certain characters' stories. Stories are drawn from the Ramayana, which I had heard of but not read, and the Mahabharata, which I had never heard of.
The storybook's title interested me because it gave me an idea of what the site would be about but left me wondering exactly what it meant. The introduction did a good job of explaining the title and the author's motivation for writing about birth and death stories through the lens of the four elements. I liked that she began by discussing the elements and their importance in the Indian epics, and then moved on to talk about interesting birth and death stories that could not have happened without these elements, and finished by explaining why the elements' connection with the birth and death stories actually matter. The introduction flows naturally and gives its audience a reason to read on.
The design of the site is clean and bright, which I like. One thing that stood out to me was that the author got all her illustrations from the same source. This tied the site together and gave it a coherent feel. I do wish that she had included some pictures of the characters she discussed, perhaps in connection to the element under scrutiny.
I am glad you looked at projects from both classes, Sally: I teach that Indian Epics class every semester, and of course India is also part of the Myth-Folklore class too (Ayodhya is the birthplace of Prince Rama, who is the hero of the Ramayana, and there is a very short version of the Indian epic Ramayana which is a reading option in this class: Myth-Folklore UnTextbook: Ramayana). The projects for Myth-Folklore are all over the place in terms of geography and storytelling styles; for me, it is really exciting to see all the new approaches people come up with every semester. I hope you will have fun brainstorming your own topics starting in Week 2! :-)
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