UnTextbook

I love the idea of the UnTextbook. There are so many different options to choose from. Here is my list of the four that caught my attention.


Alice in Wonderland- I have always loved hearing this story. I have seen the Disney movie version but I have never managed to read the book. I normally like the book versions better than the movies so it would be interesting to know how similar they are and also to see the differences.


Faerie Queene- I chose this one because I have read parts of Spencer's version in a class a couple years ago. I know that I liked it even though I don't remember all that much about it. I would like to see how this version goes.


Ballads of Robin Hood- This is another one of those where I have heard some of the stories that relate to Robin Hood and I have seen the movie but I have never read the stories. I am actually glad that I have the chance to read these stories that I have heard so much about but never had the chance to read for myself.


Through the Looking Glass- I have heard of the sequel to Alice in Wonderland but I don't know the story of it. I think if I read the first one, then I would feel like I had to read the second one. That is the main reason why this one is on here along with Alice in Wonderland.

An image of Alice. Wikimedia Commons

Storybook Favorites

The first storybook that I have chosen to look at was The Fairy Godmother Union Strike. I chose this one first because the title caught my interest. I love fairytales. They have always been a favorite of my so I thought that it sounding good. I think it does a good job on the introduction and it really made me want to read more of it. It is a very creative idea and I liked being able to look at the fairytales that show what would have happened if the fairies did not intervene for the princesses. I also really liked the design of the page.

The fairy godmother expressing her unhappiness. Web source: A Look at Disney

I choose this image because it was on the cover of The Fairy Godmother Union Strike and I feel like the expression on her face matches perfectly with the plot of the story.

The next storybook that I looked at was The Princess Constellations. I was drawn to this for many reasons. One reason is that I love reading about princesses. The main reason is definitely the cover though. It has this beautiful image of a woman. It definitely caught my attention. I liked how the stars were watching over the princesses. I think that was an interesting topic.

The last storybook that I looked at was Fairytale Case Files. Obviously this goes with my love of fairytales. The name was the original reason that I decided to look over it. I like fairytales and I like mysteries so it seemed like this was a good combination to look at. Its a detective who works for the fairytale kingdom. I like that instead of using fairy godmothers to create the happy ever after, this storybook used a detective. It is such a cool twist to what you originally think fairytales should consist of.

I loved the creativity that went into these storybooks. It took fairytales and created this amazing twist. It told stories from a unique perspective. It made me want to read the entire storybooks.

Introductions

My name is Stephanie Holliman. Everyone calls me Stevi. I sometimes even forget that my real name is Stephanie. I am 25 years old and my major is psychology. I was born and raised in Oklahoma and I could not imagine living anywhere else. I am married with two children. My son’s name is Bentley and he is 5 years old. My daughter’s name is Bransyn and she just turned 1 year old. Mostly everything in my life revolves around my kids.

I am going to be graduating at the end of this year with my bachelors in psychology. I already have an Associates in Applied Sciences in EMS that I got a couple years ago. I am a nationally registered and state certified paramedic but I am no longer working as a paramedic because I decided that I wanted to do something different with my life. That is why I am working towards my psychology degree. I started college when I was 17 years old. I feel like I have been in school for forever but I know that it will be worth it in the end.

My life is not that interesting anymore. I used to play soccer. I still love playing but I am not able to do it as much. Between kids, school, and work there just isn’t much time for anything else. I am okay with that though because things are going pretty good. I am quite content with spending most of my time with my family.

The free time that I get is spent with my children, my nieces and nephews. There is a total of 9 children between my sisters and I. There are numerous days where I watch all of them by myself. We have fun though. We love to play outside and go to the park. I spend a lot of time coloring and playing with play-doh. I love it. It reminds me to enjoy the little things in life. 

 

My daughter Bransyn. Personal photo that I took in December 2014

My son Bentley and me right after playing in the dirt. Personal photo taken in November 2014.

Week 1 Storytelling: Prince Jack and Princess Jill

"Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water;
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after."

(Traditional nursery rhyme)

Jack and Jill were the children of King Frank and Queen Jennifer. They were quite spoiled being the children of royalty. They would run through the castle and destroy everything in their path. Their parents soon grew tired of how out of control the children had become. They enlisted the help of the maids. The maids were glad to help. They had grown tired of constantly cleaning up after the spoiled children.

They wanted to start right away. They knew that this task would not be an easy one. So they waited until the children had run through the kitchen and tracked mud all over the freshly mopped floor. The king and queen noticed that the children had made quite a mess. They told the children that since they made the mess, it was now their job to clean it up.

The children complained and did not want to clean up the mess. They did not feel like it was their job. This made the maids even angrier. They told the children that they had to go get the water in order to clean the floors. The children went to the sink to begin gathering the water to mop the floor. The maids decided that it would be too easy for the children if they were able to get the water out of the sink. So the maids told the children that the water in the sink was not the correct water to mop the floor. The children, never having cleaned a day in their lives, believed this to be true.

The maids then led the children outside to the very large hill that led to a water well.

“That is the correct water” the maids exclaimed, trying to contain their laughter. “You will need to take this bucket and fill it up and then you may bring it down and clean.”

The children looked up at the hill. It seemed like a lot of trouble just for some water, but they began climbing nonetheless. Once up at the top of the hill, the children filled up the water bucket. Jack handed Jill the bucket, but Jill did not want to have to be the one to carry it. It was much too heavy. So she shoved the bucket back at Jack. She hit him so hard that he and the bucket went flying down the hill. She tried to reach out and catch him but all she managed to grab was his crown. This caused her to lose her balance and she fell on top of the crown, causing it to break.

Jack and Jill tumbled down the hill and landed on the ground. They realized how hard it was to clean the floor. They ran to the maids to apologize. The maids felt that they had learned their lesson and sent them on their way.

Jack and Jill by Sue Clark.Wikimedia Commons

 Author's Note:  This story was written based on the nursery rhyme "Jack fell down, and broke his crown" that was found in The Nursery Rhyme Book that was edited by Andrew Lang (1897). This nursery rhyme is about Jack and Jill. They climbed up a hill and fell down it. I thought it would be interesting if Jack and Jill were spoiled children and had to climb up the hill as a form of punishment.

Week 1: My Favorite Place

My favorite place has to be the beaches at Galveston, TX. We went there a couple years ago for a vacation. It was my son's first time being at the ocean and it was beautiful. We had so much fun swimming in the ocean and playing on the beach. I lost all my own person pictures from that trip but I still have many great memories about all the fun that we had.

By: USEPA Environmental-Protection-Agency. "Orange beach, Galveston, Texas, Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration images" Wikimedia Commons