Reading Notes: Europa's Fairy Book, Part A

Cinder-Maid (Cinderella) by BagoGames

I like when it starts off like a typical fairy tale. I feel bad for the Cinder-Maid. No one cared for her when she was sad. I just realized this is a twist on Cinderella! The honey at the bottom of the stairs is a new part that I don’t recall in the original? Ah, how are the step sisters so clueless to not recognize someone whom lives with them? The story ends in the shoe fitting, marriage, and living happily ever after.

Beauty and the Beast is such a classic. Love rid him of his beast form and then they lived happily ever after as well.

I don’t understand what a dozen at a blow means… Throughout this whole story I’m lost. There are a lot of animals mentioned, and I think he’s hunting them. There’s some sort of marriage mentioned. He was a hero. Happily ever after ending.

A miller had three sons. They refer to the Earl of Cattenborough by his full title and not just his name like the rest of the characters. This story does not end in a happily ever after, instead it ends in death.


Bibliography: Europa’s Fairy Book by Joseph Jacobs

Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm (Crane), Part B

Snow White and Dwarfs by MediumHero6

So many stories include some sort of deal with forced marriage. I’m not fond of those stories… why can’t they just magically fall in love upon meeting somewhere instead of it being a deal breaker. The new wife hates her husband’s former children and turned them into swans out of jealousy. She was a nut job.

This next story is about a girl being too good for anyone. She was too picky. Her father made her marry a ballad-singer, and she was horrified. If she wasn’t satisfied why didn’t she just refuse? Unhappy marriages seem to be the common thread here.

There aren’t really names of characters so far.

Growing up, I was not fond of the story of Snow-White. I was forced to take hand me downs from my cousins and dressed like her for Halloween one year. Eh, let’s just say I was not a happy trick or treater. I forgot a lot of the story, so it’s nice to read this again. The dwarfs and their personalities are my favorite part. The queen has such terrible intentions.


Bibliography: Brothers Grimm (Crane) by Lucy and Walter Crane

Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm (Crane), Part A

Cottage by STVIOD

I love stories that deal with the sea. There’s just something about them that are interesting to me. I like how you can’t really tell what decade this takes place in. He caught a flounder and the wife wants him to go back and ask the flounder for a cottage. The fisherman then says a little chant. She is not satisfied and keeps asking for more. First a cottage, then a castle, then a request to be king, emperor, pope. She is frankly asking for too much. The flounder had enough of her shenanigans and left her back in their hovel.

The next story starts off sounding sad already. Stories that start off with death just makes me not want to continue. I like how there is like a verse or chant occasionally. Rhymes are the best, but hard to comprehend sometimes. Go and shoe does not rhyme?

The next story also has a verse that is repeated throughout. This is very descriptive of the actions happening. It’s easy to imagine. “The robber, who during the story had grown deadly white, sprang up and would have escaped.”


Bibliography: Brothers Grimm (Crane) by Lucy and Walter Crane

Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales, Part B

Goose by Diliff

The story starts off with a word all in caps. Henny-penny is so upbeat and fun to read. The names Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Goosey-poosey and all the others are cute. It’s such a play on words. The names however did start to get confusing to read after a while. The ending reminded me of Chicken Little.

Oh gosh, the illustration set the mood for the rest of the story. These stories start off in a generic way. Once upon a time. One day. Etcetera. Actions seem to be repeated for emphasis. The dialect for Molly is unique. Would be interesting to make a modern twist on this story.

Why doesn’t Mr have a period after it? I’m bothered by the lack of it. I like the message throughout this. Be bold. Be bold, but not too bold.

The only person who has a name is Johnny-cake in this story. Very descriptive of his actions. Dialogues are giving the characters a lot of personality. Redundancy in his words.

I honestly love how this story starts off. It reminded me of Santa Clause immediately. Next, story about a queen, princess, and magic. A lot of unique titles for places and people. I like how the story after this refers to the guy as a lad. That word alone makes me imagine the type of person he is.

Fairy ointment? The word ointment… bleh. What are pixies in this sense? She got into a house of pixies. Wow, she was hit in the eye and was blind till she died… that is tragic.


Bibliography: English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs

Tech Tip: Pinterest Board

Pinterest Logo by Michael Deal and Jean Carlos Pagan

Here is the Pinterest Board I made for the class.

I use Pinterest alot! I like to look up recipes and DIY projects. I never thought I would use it for a class, so this is pretty cool.

Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales, Part A

Cat and Mouse by Niels Hartvig

Oh my gosh, the first image that you scroll down to… I don’t know what to feel. The characters are written with distinguishable accents. She was embarrassed and made her daughter out to be someone else. The girl got married to a guy that was impressed by a quality she did not possess. Someone offered to help the damsel in distress. She had to guess the name of the someone/something that helped her. The name was Tom Tit Tot.

The intro was very descriptive. It was easy to imagine the girl. She had to sing a song over and over again.

The writing in this is very confusing to keep up with. Too many run on sentences. There were many animals involved. Rats, cats, dog, ox, and pig were mentioned.

A harp was made out of Binnorie. The harp sang, then it snapped and broke.

The cat and the mouse are talking with repetitive words. “The cat came and ate it, my lady, my lady. The cat came and ate it, my lady.”

The legendary three little pigs is always fun to read. This is definitely a class story many people know and have heard before. There is an ominous feeling for the last story, and I like it.


Bibliography: English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs

Reading Notes: Nursery Rhymes, Part B

Jack and Jill by Dorothy M. Wheeler

Jingles: Deedle is very cute. It’s simple and easy to understand. Other stories are quite a tongue twister and plays with your thoughts. Oh, I know Hey Diddle Diddle! There are a lot of unique words being used such as deedle, jiggety, and tweedle.

Love and Matrimony: Ah, I like how the first one is the infamous Jack and Jill. There are a repeat in actions, possibly to put emphasis on it. What is a minikin pin? The rhyme about Jack Sprat made me giggle. They even each other out in their flaws and preferences haha.

Natural History: The first illustration is adorable. Good use of a dog as the spotlight of the rhyme. Every rhyme so far has a great flow. Not too long of a sentence. Good length of a verse. More dialogues in these kinds of rhymes. Oh my gosh, the next page starts with a dog as well. I love animals in case you can’t tell. I think I knew Baa, Baa, Black Sheep as a hand game/dance.

Accumulative Stories: I like how each part builds onto the next. It’s a good way to make it cohesive and not all over the place.

Relics: I read most of these with a tune in my head. Overall, many of these have a certain flow to them that make it easy to hum to.


Bibliography: Nursery Rhymes by Andrew Lang