Thursday, August 27, 2015

Storybook Favorites: Then There Were Three

(image information: Chief Black Hawk)

Live On, University Legends

I loved the home page of this storybook. The first thing you see are pictures on campus late at night that have an ominous tone to them. My initial reaction was that this had to do with some horror story no one had ever been told. So, it caught my attention immediately with the home page.

Next, it intrigued me even more too when it started talking about the history of Native Americans in first person. It felt as though the person writing the introduction was actually there in time historically. The person I am speaking of is Chief Black Hawk who was born in 1767 in what we know as today New York. He told of how the Europeans came and took their land and how no one sees today what had to be sacrificed for this Norman campus to exist.

Lastly, Chief black Hawk talked about the spirits roaming the campus. One he mentioned is in the bottom of Cate. Did I mention I was sitting in Cate as I wrote this? So, overall I enjoyed this storybook. The writer caught my attention visually, made the story clear historically, and made me think about our culture in a national sense spiritually.

(image information: storybook introduction classroom)


I am familiar with the topics speaking in front of class and Christianity. I feel the title did well to give me a general idea of what would be covered.

The introduction made me want to read more for sure because it told a relatable story. Elias, a ten year old, had to get up in front of his whole class and tell a story about his dad. The thing is that someone else told the exact same story. This has happened to me before at that age so I definitely had to keep reading! It turned out that many others in his class told the same story too! Why is this do you ask? They were the gospels in the Bible. The gospels are the same stories told from four different people. The writer allowed the reader to make this connection. He or she did not simply give you the answer as you read. 

Lastly, the structure was great. The backdrop is yellow with a red top for the title of the site. It was not fancy, but kept your attention with such bright and vibrant colors. The site was extremely easy to navigate. 

(image information: Hercules introduction)


The best introductory paragraph and topic yet! The storybook has Hera, Hercule's stepmother, tell tales from her perspective to defend herself. Literally that is what is explained and there is no confusion about what is to follow. The storybook has a great title too which is listed above this paragraph. The title set up the story to where you felt like you knew what might happen, but still were left dangling since Hera would be telling the stories. I like that because it made me want to read more. 

So, now not only do I learn that this storybook has to do with Hercules, my favorite hero ever, but this tale will be told from his evil step-mother's view? That is a great twist! Hera's goal was to defend herself and show that the labors she put Hercules through were out of love. It all sounded believable until I heard she sent two serpents into Hercules room. He of course just played with them like they were twizzlers.  

I like the title, topic, and content. I also like the physical layout though. The text has a white backdrop space and then is outlined in red. It made it extremely easy to read. Secondly, the pictures used in the blog are so old and historic that it gave me a good sense of how people were back then. It assimilated me for a moment if you will into their culture. Again, I cannot state enough how much I love this topic and how it was executed. This storybook was very well done. 

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