Possible Storybook Topics

So many choices... I've never been great at making decisions—not that I don't make good decisions, it just usually takes me a while to arrive at my best possible conclusion. It took me almost thirty minutes to decide which wedding planner to buy at Barnes & Noble. Restaurant outings with Josh are a disaster. But I'm trying to improve.

Possible Topic: DRAGONS!
If you know me, (and none of you do), you know that I'm a little obsessed with dragons. If I see that a book has a dragon in it (and it doesn't look like it's been horribly written), I want to read it. I loved every seen from The Hobbit that involved Smaug (and every other scene). "I am fire. I am death!" Man. Goosebumps. I even plan on writing about a girl who turns into a dragon for my capstone. (Judge me now; my inner dork is shining).

 

(Epic depiction of a dragon)

So obviously, I love dragons. However, I'll admit that I haven't read much about original dragon folklore. What I do know about dragons comes from The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Harry Potter... etc. I know they love treasure, they're usually depicted as evil or selfish, and sometimes knights go on a quest to destroy them. And the obvious things, like that they breathe fire and have scales...

Research: I'd love to learn more about their history—where the original legends of dragons came from, what some of the most classic stories about them are, and "little known facts." I didn't find out many new things from the storybooks I read, other than a few stories about specific dragons from myths. I'd like to explore the "dragons at the edge of the earth" theory. Back when people thought the world was flat, they believed the edge of the world was where the dragons lived. Maybe I could do a story about Christopher Columbus's little brother who discovers there really are dragons somewhere far at sea, but decides not to report it because he wants to live there himself... or something like that.

Possible Topic: Pirates
Speaking of traveling the seas, I'm also interested in pirates. I think it started when I read Peter and the Starcatchers a while ago. Something about the wildness of the open sea draws me, at least in my imagination. I can't say that I have any real desire to travel far out into the ocean on a boat.
I know that Blackbeard was a real pirate, but other than that, I don't know a lot of facts about pirates. I think it would be neat to do a storybook about four famous pirates who all knew each other as boys, or maybe even what their lives were like from the perspective of their mothers... if anyone is hard to love, it's a pirate. But your mom always loves you, right? Maybe a mommy support group for mothers of pirates.

 

(Blackbeard) 

Research: I liked the Piracy: Not Just for Men storybook, especially since "pirate code" typically depicts women on a ship as bad luck. So, a combination of stories about women pirates would be pretty neat. I also think it would be interesting to tell the story of several pirates from one very old parrot's perspective. Everyone thinks pirates have parrots on their shoulders, but maybe one tenacious bird stuck with these thieves throughout history. I'd also like to read some books about pirates. It might be interesting to find a few kids' books and rewrite the stories for adults.

Possible Topic: Nursery Rhymes
The thing I love about this topic is there is so much room to create my own ideas. With already-written stories, I sometimes have trouble getting my imagination out of the original tale and creating my own. Since nursery rhymes are so short and usually nonsensical, there are a thousand different directions I could go with each rhyme. I know several just from growing up, and I'm sure each child's interpretation of them is a little bit different, so even expanding the story from my point of view could work. However, I think I'd like to start with nursery rhymes that are completely new to me even better (preferably without looking at the illustrations), so that my slate would be completely blank.

Research: I think The Real Mother Goose would be a great place to start, since it has hundreds of rhymes, many of which I've never read. I'd also like to incorporate the history of the real Mother Goose; she could be telling the stories to the same children as before, but now they're grown up and are mature enough to know "the real story." I imagine that before, odd things were happening in the children's lives, and she had to think of a nice way to explain them, but now they get to know the truth.

Possible Topic: History Explained
When I saw Historical Storybooks, I imagined writing explanations for real-life phenomenons in history. I could write about the origin of Stonehenge, the reason these lighthouse keepers in Scotland mysteriously disappeared, the explanation for these lost cities, or even four separate stories about the peculiarities of Winchester House.

Research: I know a little about Stonehenge, but the rest of these mysteries are fairly new to me. I'd like to read different articles about them, discover what facts are consistent, and then fill in my own blanks for story ideas. This was my last idea, but I think it might actually divulge the most interesting avenues for stories.