Monday, April 25, 2016

Matty's Portfolio Index

Susie and the Secret Garden
A children's bedtime story about always putting others before themselves. 


A story about a young farmer boy who embarks on a dangerous journey to find love. 


A story about a young girl with a big secret.  


Not your average "Cinderella story."

A tiny fox forever changes the life of an elderly woman. 

What really happened in the classic story of "The Three Little Pigs."






Reading Diary, Week 14: Russian Folktale Unit Continued

The second half of the Russian Folktale Unit was very similar to the first half. The stories were still very ere, creepy and a little disturbing (in my opinion!) Overall, the stories were very unique and made you feel like you were in a scary movie while you were reading them. I would highly suggest these stories for anyone who enjoys books about death, ghosts or vampires.

One story from the second half of the readings that caught my attention was called The Witch Girl. This story is about death. In this certain story, "death" goes around and kills people at night. This story also included a witch that was dressed in all white. In my opinion, I think this character was supposed to resemble death. The idea of this was kind of strange to me because usually death is portrayed as the color black. For my story this week, I think it would be neat to write a story from the point of view of the "white witch."

Another story that was very interesting to me was called The Headless Princess. In this story, there was a princess who could take off her head. This made me laugh because most princesses are very beautiful and elegant. I chuckled at the thought of one of my favorite Disney princesses having this as her special power. At the end of the story, the King ordered that his daughter (the princess) should be killed and thrown into a hole in the ground.

The stories in this unit were very different and disturbing. Although these stories were entertaining, I do not think they were my favorite.


Reading Diary, Week 14: Russian Folktale Unit

For this week's readings I decided to explore the Russian Folktale Unit. This unit included many spooky, supernatural characters.

One story I found very interesting was called The Dead Mother. In this story, the mother died after giving birth to her son. Every night, the dead  mother would visit her baby son and give him milk. In the end of the story, the "kinsfolk" saw the mother and realized that the baby boy was dead too! This story was very ere and kept me on the edge of my seat. I really enjoyed this story because it was completely different than anything else I have read this semester!

Another story I thought was interesting was called The Bad Wife. This story was about a husband and wife who hated each other. This story was very strange and sad. In the story, the husband killed his wife in a pit. At the end of the story it said "and the wife still sits in the pit to this day." The ending of this story was very creepy for me. It was scary to imagine a lady sitting in a pit waiting for her husband.

The Russian Folktale Unit readings were a lot different than I had expected them to be. For my story this week, I would like to take a twist on one of these tales. I think it would be fun to take a scary story and to make it happy and/or funny at the end! Overall, this unit was interesting to read... but I wouldn't suggest it for anyone who gets scared easily!


Friday, April 22, 2016

Portfolio: A Pig's Diary


Monday:
Today is the best day ever!!! A little old lady named Miss Henny purchased Betty, Curly and me today from the market. Now we no longer have to worry about being turning into someone’s breakfast. Miss Henny is coming to pick us up tomorrow. I am so excited to see what our new farm looks like (I really hope we have a mud Jacuzzi or a big patch of hay to sunbathe on). It is going to be hard to get sleep tonight with all of this excitement!




Tuesday:
Today was the first day on the farm for Curly, Betty and me. Although it is cute, I will admit that it’s a little different then how I expected it to be. There is one medium-sized barn at the very back of the land. It has old red shutters and a navy blue door. Curly, Betty and I have a small haystack near the chicken coops. There isn’t much room to roam, but at least the cows don’t seem to be as annoying as the last ones we lived with. I am excited to make new friends and to pull more pranks on the other animals.

Wednesday:
Oh! Miss Henny went to the store yesterday to buy materials to make us houses. I don’t know if she has ever owned pigs before… because we are perfectly fine with sleeping on our haystack (or even the dirt.) Anyways, I am so excited to have my own house. I hope mine is painted pink… that’s always been my favorite color. I am going to go search the chicken coop to find some loose feathers for decorations. Maybe the sheep will even loan me some fur for a warm blanket…. Tomorrow can’t come fast enough!

Thursday:
I think I am Miss Henny’s favorite because she gave me the house made of brick! Curly’s house is made of straw and Betty’s is made of furze. I might be a little biased… but I think mine is the best! I can’t write long today because I have to go tidy up my brand new place. 



Friday:
THE WORST THING HAPPENED YESTERDAY! I was minding my own business in my beautiful new home and all of a sudden I hear squealing coming from Curly’s house. I jumped on my haystack and peered out my window to see a massive, ugly wolf eating Curly!!! He must have come from the other side of the woods. The cows warned us to stay far away from there, but of course I thought they were just being dramatic. Anyways, the wolf blew down the house of straw and treated my friend as if he were a piece of bacon!

Saturday:
THE WOLF ATTACKED AGAIN! I tried to warn Betty last night, but she being the stubborn ham she is, she would not listen. The wolf blew down Betty’s house and ate her too. Miss Henny and her husband are on a vacation. They are going to be so devastated to see what happened to Betty and Curly when they return. I must stand my ground and survive. Miss Henny would be devastated if she lost all three of her new pigs!

Sunday:
Guess what I had for dinner tonight? Wolf meat! Yeah that’s right… I defeated the wolf. He tried to pull his stunt on me but I outsmarted him! The bricks were too strong for him to blow down. When he tried to climb down my chimney, there was a nice big pot of boiling hot water waiting for his arrival. Oh, Miss Henny will be so happy to see that I am okay! I miss Curly and Betty so much already. I guess I will have to make a trip down to the “meet market” soon to make some new friends.

Bibliography: The original story comes from "The Three Little Pigs" in English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs in 1890. 

Author's Note: I got my idea from the classic story of "The Three Little Pigs." I decided to write my version in a "diary format" to show my audience the scene from the pig's perspective. The original story is about a wolf that blows down pigs' houses and eats them for dinner. In the original story, the three pigs either have a straw house, a furze house or a brick house. The wolf blows down the straw and furze house, but cannot blow down the brick one. At the end, one brave pig survives and kills the wolf by putting a pot of hot water under his chimney. I wanted to keep most of the same elements from the original source because it is so wonderful and classic. I wanted my audience to see the story in a new light and give background details that they have never thought about. I had so much fun getting to put myself in the pig’s perspective. I wanted my audience to escape reality and put themselves “behind the scenes “of their favorite childhood story. I have never written a story in this format before, but I think I will write another one like this in the future. Overall, I had a blast coming up with this week’s story!

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Storytelling, Week 13: The Gift

There once was lived a King who had three daughters. The two oldest daughters loved living in the castle, but the youngest daughter desired to live a different life.

When the King’s daughters turned eighteen, a wizard granted them a special power.

The first daughter to turn 18 was named Lilly. On Lilly’s eighteenth birthday, she was given the power of beauty. All of the boys in the kingdom loved Lilly and wished to marry her.

The second daughter to turn eighteen was named Rose. Rose was granted the gift of wisdom. She was without a doubt the smartest daughter out of the three. Rose helped the King solve the town’s problems and hardships.

The youngest of the three daughters was named Daisy. Daisy turned 18 in exactly one week. The kingdom was preparing the town for the King's last daughter’s birthday celebration.



The King ordered that the town was sparkling clean for the wizard’s arrival. Hundreds of cakes, flowers and balloons had been delivered to the castle throughout the week. Although Daisy knew she should be excited for her party, she couldn’t help but feel nervous for some reason.

The day had finally come and it was time to reveal Daisy’s birthday gift. Daisy and her two sisters put on their most beautiful dresses and headed to the ballroom. The entire town was eagerly waiting for the news of Daisy's gift outside the castle.

The three daughters entered the massive ballroom and immediately saw the wizard. Daisy approached the wizard very slowly.

“Why do you look so nervous,” asked the wizard.

“I am not nervous,”
lied Daisy. “I am just excited.”

“Ah, maybe I should grant you the gift of telling the truth,” smirked the wizard.

No one could hear what was being said between the two. 

After a few long moments of silence the wizard raised his wand and a huge green flash threw Daisy to the ground.



The two sisters ran to pick Daisy's side and to help pick her up. In the next instant, the wizard lifted his hands and proclaimed, “I present to you the new Daisy! I have given her the gift of talking to animals!”
Smoked filled the entire room and the wizard vanished.

“Destroy her!” demanded the King. 

The king did not approve of his daughter's new gift and declared that she should be killed.

The two sisters grabbed Daisy and fled to the nearest forest. They could not let her sister die so they took a knife and killed a squirrel. They spread the squirrel’s blood on Daisy’s beautiful gown and brought it to the King.

The King knew he could trust his two daughters and went to bed peacefully that night.

Daisy was now stuck in the forest forever. 

The wizard knew her gift of talking to animals would come in handy and that she could finally start the life she had always dreamt of.



 

Author's Note: My story is a mixture between Water and Salt and The Language of Animals. I got the idea of a "King and his three daughters" from the story Water and Salt. In this story, the King orders that one of his daughters needs to be killed after she said he loved him as much as "water and salt." The other two daughters hid their sister and killed their dog in order to trick the King. I got the idea of "being able to talk to animals" from the story The Language of Animals. In this story, a father was very upset that his son had the gift of talking to animals. For my story, I thought it would be fun to combine these two topics and create them into one!

Bibliography: The stories "Water and Salt" and "The Language of Animals" came from the Italian Popular Tales by Thomas Crane. 

Monday, April 18, 2016

Week 13, Reading Diary: Italian Popular Tales Unit

The second half of the Italian Popular Tales Unit by Thomas Crane was just as exciting as the first half!



One story I liked was called The Language of Animals. This story reminded me a lot of the story "Water and Salt" from the first half. In this story, a father was upset by his son so he told his servants to kill him. The servants could not complete this request so they killed a dog instead to trick the father. The son ended up living in a castle far away and becoming the next Pope because he could talk to animals. In the end, the father asked for forgiveness and the son granted it to him.

I loved how this story had a happy ending (even though the father was not deserving of it). I think the underlying message in this story was the importance of forgiveness. For my story this week I would love to have a character that could talk to animals and/or read their thoughts!

Another story that caught my eye was called An Incident in Rome. In this story, a man goes into a dark hole and hears someone talking to him. The unknown character would not reveal his identity. Instead, the character wrote his name on the man's back and made him show it to the Pope. The man visited the Pope and lifted up his shirt immediately. On the man's back, it read "I AM PILATE" and the Pope instantly turned into a statue.

This story was so different than the others and kept me on the edge of my seat. For this week, I want to create a story similar to this one! Overall, I really enjoyed this unit (I think it was one of my favorite units from this semester).


Week 13, Reading Diary: Italian Popular Tales Unit

This week I decided to read the Indian Popular Tales Unit by Thomas Crane. I really enjoyed reading these tales because they were similar to the ones I grew up reading, just with slightly different characters!

One of my favorite stories from the first section was called Water and Salt. This story was about a King who had three daughters. One of his daughters said she loved him as much as "water and salt." The King was offended by this statement and demanded his daughter was killed. The other two daughters hid their sister in the forest and killed their dog instead to bring to the King. The two daughters tricked him and made him think the dog's blood was their sisters. In the end, the King attended a wedding and was not given water nor salt at dinner. The long lost daughter entered the room and he wept. He realized how important these small things were and loved his daughter again!

I loved this story because it had a moral lesson of "appreciate the small things." I would love to write a story where this was the main message to my audience.

Another story I found very interesting was called Sir Fiorante, Magician. This story also involved a father with three daughters. In this story a snake asked the man to marry one of his daughters. The youngest daughter agreed and the snake turned into a handsome man with "red and white stockings." In the end, the youngest daughter ended up dying and the snake lived happily ever after with his second wife. It was not your typical "happily ever after" that I am used to.

For my story this week I want to include three daughters. I think it would be fun to write about a daughter that everyone thought was "dead" but was actually living somewhere with a handsome Prince. Overall, I enjoyed this unit and I am excited to read the second half later this week.


Thursday, April 14, 2016

Week 12, Storytelling: Diary of The Three Little Pigs


Monday:
Today is the best day ever!!! A little old lady named Miss Henny purchased Betty, Curly and I today from the market. Now we no longer have to worry about being turning into someone’s breakfast. Miss Henny is coming to pick us up tomorrow. I am so excited to see what our new farm looks like (I really hope we have a mud Jacuzzi or a big patch of hay to sunbathe on). It is going to be hard to get sleep tonight with all of this excitement!




Tuesday:
Today was Curly, Betty and I’s first day on the new farm. Although it is cute, I will admit that it’s a little different then how I expected it to be. There is one medium-sized barn at the very back of the land. It has old red shutters and a navy blue door. Curly, Betty and I have a small haystack near the chicken coops. There isn’t much room to roam, but at least the cows don’t seem to be as annoying as the last ones we lived with. I am excited to make new friends and to pull more pranks on the other animals.

Wednesday:
Oh! Miss Henny went to the store yesterday to buy materials to make us houses. I don’t know if she has ever owned pigs before… because we are perfectly fine with sleeping on our haystack (or even the dirt.) Anyways, I am so excited to have my own house. I hope mine is painted pink… that’s always been my favorite color. I am going to go search the chicken coop to find some loose feathers for decorations. Maybe the sheep will even loan me some fur for a warm blanket…. Tomorrow can’t come fast enough!

Thursday:
I think I am Miss Henny’s favorite because she gave me the house made of brick! Curly’s house is made of straw and Betty’s is made of furze. I might be a little biased… but I think mine is the best! I can’t write long today because I have to go tidy up my brand new place. 



Friday:
THE WORST THING HAPPENED YESTERDAY! I was minding my own business in my beautiful new home and all of the sudden I hear squealing coming from Curly’s house. I jumped on my haystack and peered out my window to see a massive, ugly wolf eating Curly!!! He must have come from the other side of the woods. The cows warned us to stay far away from there, but of course I thought they were just being dramatic. Anyways, the wolf blew down the house of straw and treated my friend as if he were a piece of bacon!

Saturday:
THE WOLF ATTACKED AGAIN! I tried to warn Betty last night, but she being the suborn ham she is, she would not listen. The wolf blew down Betty’s house and ate her too. Miss Henny and her husband are on a vacation. They are going to be so devastated to see what happened to Betty and Curly when they return. I must stand my ground and survive. Miss Henny would be devastated if she lost all three of her new pigs!

Sunday:
Guess what I had for dinner tonight? Wolf meat! Yeah that’s right… I defeated the wolf. He tried to pull his stunt on me but I outsmarted him! The bricks were too strong for him to blow down. When he tried to climb down my chimney, there was a nice big pot of boiling hot water waiting for his arrival. Oh, Miss Henny will be so happy to see that I am okay! I miss Curly and Betty so much already. I guess I will have to make a trip down to the “meet market” soon to make some new friends.

Bibliography: The original story comes from "The Three Little Pigs" in English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs. 

Author's Note: I got my idea from the classic story of "The Three Little Pigs." I decided to write my version in a "dairy format" to show my audience the scene from the pig's perspective. The original story is about a wolf that blows down pigs houses and eats them for dinner. At the end, one brave pig kills the wolf by putting a pot of hot water under his chimney. I wanted to keep most of the same elements from the original source because it is so wonderful and classic. I wanted my audience to see  the story in a new light and give background details that they have never thought about. Overall, I had so much fun coming up with this weeks story! 

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Week 12, Reading Diary Continued: English Fairy Tale Unit

The second half of the English Fairy Tale Unit by Joseph Jacobs was just as entertaining as the first half. All of the stories were so unique and engaging.

One story that I loved was called Henny-Penny. I remembered hearing about this story as a child, but I am not sure if I ever actually read it or not. This story reminded me a lot of the story "The Old Woman and Her Pig." It reminded me of that story because it had a very similar story format. Here is an example from Henny-Penny:

"Where are you going, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, and Goosey-poosey?' says Turkey-turkey. 'Oh! we're going to tell the king the sky's a-falling,' said Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Duckydaddies, and Goosey-poosey. 'May I come with you, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, and Goosey-poosey?' said Turkey-lurkey."

In Henny-Penny, the story included characters with rhyming names. Every paragraph, a new character would join the search to find the King. In the end, the fox ended up eating all of the characters except for Henny-Penny! Henny-Penny never completed her task of telling the King that the sky was falling! 


One other story that caught my attention was called Molly Whuppie. This story included a very clever girl and a huge giant. Molly, the clever young girl, had to accomplish certain tasks for the King. If Molly accomplished the tasks, her sisters would marry into the royal family. In the end, Molly tricked the giant and her and her two sisters were able to marry the King's sons!

My favorite part of this story was the famous lines: "Fee, fie, fo, fum"

I never knew a giant was the one who first said these words. For my story this week, I would love to incorporate a character that resembled a giant! I also think it would be fun to write a story about why Henny-Penny thought the sky was falling. I am excited for this week's storytelling! 

Monday, April 11, 2016

Reading Diary, Week 12: English Fairy Tales Unit

For week 12, I decided to read the English Fairy Tale Unit by Joseph Jacobs.

Reading these stories was so much fun! Every single story I read was very different from the other. This unit reminded me a lot of my childhood. I never knew the stories behind some of these tales, so it was entertaining going back and rereading them as an adult.

One of the stories that I absolutely loved was called The Old Woman and her Pig. This story was about a woman's pig that would not jump over "a stile." Since the pig would not jump, the old woman could not get home. In order to get the pig to move, she kept asking different people and/or animals to help her. No one would help her; therefore, it created a ripple effect! Here is a short example from the story:

"She went a little further, and she met an ox. So she said: 'Ox! ox! drink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get home tonight.' But the ox wouldn't."

The story both started and ended in this sort of fashion. I thought it was hilarious because I have never seen anything like it before! I think it would be interesting to write a story like this... but I also think it would be very difficult. 

My other favorite story I read was The Story of the Three Little Pigs. It was wonderful to go back and read this story in a whole new perspective! Since I have not read this story in a long time, I forgot what happened in the end. When I went back and reread it today, I found myself cracking up. In the end, the wolf tries to climb down the pig's chimney but gets trapped in a boiling pot of water.

This week, I think it would be fun to rewrite the ending of the "Three Little Pigs." I am excited to see where my creativity takes me this week. 


Friday, April 8, 2016

Matty's Portfolio: The Woman and the Fox

A legendary Native American tale that has been passed down throughout the Inuit tribe for centuries: 

Once upon a time there was an old widowed woman named Sue. The elderly woman lived in a small cottage in the woods all by herself. Her husband and only son had passed away from a hunting accident almost twenty years ago. 

In order to keep herself occupied, Sue would take long walks around the forest every afternoon. During her walks, she would sing with the birds, swim laps in the river and gather berries and nuts to eat for her meals.

After Sue’s walk one afternoon, she turned the corner to head home and saw a small fox running from her house.


“Hmmmm… that’s strange,” thought Sue. “I have never seen any foxes in these woods before.”

Not thinking much about it, Sue went home and fell asleep.

The next morning, she practiced her exact routine and entered the woods once again. When she returned home, the fox was asleep in her living room.

“What a cute little creature!”
 thought Sue. “I could use a friend in these lonesome woods.”

That night, Sue made a bed out of leaves for her new friend and went to bed.

The next morning, Sue woke up and her house looked completely different! All of the dishes were sparkling clean, the floor had been vacuumed, the toilet scrubbed, the light bulbs had been replaced and there was even fresh deer meat sitting on the table! Sue stood staring at her tiny cottage confused and in awe.

“Do you like what I did with the place?” asked a small voice from behind her. 



In shock, Sue slowly turned around and saw the small fox staring directly at her. Convinced she was sleep walking, the old woman gave herself a big pinch and realized it was not a dream.

“Who are you and how can you talk?” asked Sue.

“I am your son,” said the fox. “When I was killed by the hunters many years ago, a fox saved me and nurtured me back to life.”

The next moment, there was a huge bolt of light and the fox transformed into a small child. After a few seconds, the woman noticed that the little boy was wearing an old gray t-shirt, light blue jeans and a red baseball cap. Sue immediately recognized the little boy because he was wearing the exact same outfit her son had on the day he was killed in a hunting accident.

“Danny! It really is you!” screamed Sue.

“Yes, it is! I am here to protect you and promise to never go into the woods without you again, Mom,” said Danny.


Bibliography: My story idea came from "The Fox-Woman" in the Native American Marriage Tale Unit by Stith Thompson in 1929. 

Author's Note: I created my story after the original version of "The Fox Woman" by Stith Thompson. This story is a part of the traditional "Native American Marriage Tales" from the Inuit people. The original story was about a man who would leave his house to hunt every day. When he returned, his house was always cleaned and prepared for the evening. One day, the man saw a fox enter his house. When the man looked inside his window, the fox had transformed into a beautiful woman. The man and "woman" ended up staying together for a long time. For my story, I wanted to incorporate a fox that could transform into a human. I loved the idea of animals being able to do human actions and activities. Instead of making a man the main character, I decided to use an elderly woman who needed a friend. I decided to create a “plot-twist” by making the fox her son who had passed away in a hunting accident many years ago. I got this idea from the original story because the main character was a serious hunter. In the end, I wanted the fox to stay with the woman so she would never be alone and could catch up on lost time spent with her son.

Thursday, April 7, 2016

Week 11, Storytelling: The Man in the Moon

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.

Johnny immediately awoke from his deep summer sleep and thought, “did I hear someone knocking or was I just dreaming?”

Without thinking he twice, he closed his eyes and fell back asleep.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.

He heard the mysterious noise again! This time Johnny was certain he was not dreaming.

Slowly and suspiciously, Johnny turned in his bed and opened his eyes.

“AHHHHHHH!” Johnny screamed.

There was a tall, lanky man standing on the tree-branch outside of his window.

“Don’t just lay there!”
said the shadowy man. “It’s freezing out here.”

Carefully, Johnny got up from his bed and opened his bedroom window. The man came tumbling in and landed straight on top of Mr. Whiskers (Johnny’s pet cat).

“Who are you?” asked the little boy.

“Don’t you recognize me?” asked the man. “I am Norbert, the man on the moon of course!”

“What are you doing here?
” asked Johnny.

“I am on my way to Norwich,” said Norbert. “Norwich is the moon in the Whirlpool Galaxy. My lovely wife resides there and I haven’t seen her in light years!”

Lost and confused, the little boy simply stared at the stranger without blinking.

“Well we can’t just stay here! You have to help me find Norwich,” begged Norbert.

Immediately, Johnny got out his map of the solar system he had made in class earlier that week.

“I am sorry to upset you, but I do not see the Whirlpool Galaxy on my map sir,” said the boy.

“Let me see that silly thing!”
said Norbert.

The man took the map flipped it upside down and shouted, “It is right here!”

Johnny looked to where his finger was pointing and noticed that the map looked completely different now. All of the colors were sparkling, shooting stars were flying across the page, there were eight new planets that he had never seen before and there were two moons right in the middle of the map!

“Which moon is it?” asked Johnny.

See the one on the left with the lovely craters shaped as a woman? That’s Norwich!” said the man.

“Then why is there a second one?” Asked the boy.

“That is my other home!” said Norbert. “That is where I need to go. Will you please show me how to get there?”

Immediately, the boy pulled out his campus and directed towards the two moons on Whirlpool Galaxy. He had studied directions in his class last week, so he was excited to test out his new skills.

“Okay, the direction says that you need to go south!” Said Johnny as he pointed left outside of his window.

“Thank you so much!” S
creamed Norbert.

Before the man left, Johnny packed him a bag for his journey.

“I am sorry I can’t go with you.”
Said Johnny. “I have my own family here that needs me.”

“It’s okay,” said Norbert. “You have helped me more than you will ever know!”

Johnny handed Norbert a backpack that had the solar system map, his campus and a few snacks in case he got hungry on his journey.

Norbert pulled one of the snacks and asked, “What is this?”

“That is cold pease-porridge,” explained Johnny.

Norbert took a huge bite and yelped “OUCH!” He then turned, opened the window and said “Goodbye earthling! Your helpfulness will be rewarded one day.”

Johnny crawled back in bed, closed his eyes and fell back asleep.



Author’s Note: My original story came from The Nursery Rhyme Book edited by Andrew Lang. The story I based mine off of was “The Man in the Moon.” The original nursery rhyme goes:

“THE man in the moon,
Came tumbling down,
And ask'd his way to Norwich;
He went by the south,
And burnt his mouth
With supping cold pease-porridge."

For my story this week, I wanted to make the man in the moon come alive. I wanted my readers to take a step back into their childhood days and relive this wonderful bedtime story. Throughout my story, I incorporated ideas from the original source. I was interested to see if the readers could pick up on the classic nursery rhyme that I based my story off of. In the end, I wanted the main character to fall back asleep. I wanted to do this to allow my readers to decide if it was all a dream or reality. Overall, I had so much fun with this type of story and loved being able to relive my childhood imagination.

Bibliography: My original story came from the Nursery Rhyme The Man in the Moon. I found this classic story in The Nursery Rhyme Book edited by Andrew Lang in 1897.