Potential Storybook Topics

1. Possible Topic: Mermaid Stories. I've always had an interest in mermaids since I was a little kid. I was even one for Halloween one year! I don't know too much about mermaids in general, mainly just from what I saw in Disney, so that's why I thought it would be a fun and interesting topic for my project. The story that stood out to me was The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen since it's a spin on the Disney version. I'm curious as to how and when stories about mermaids came about and want to learn more about their history.
Research so far. I looked at some of the previous Storybooks about mermaids. They all seemed very creative and are fun to read, so I figure I would have a good time putting my own spin on some stories if I choose this as my topic. I also found a good article on Wikipedia that gave a good background on mermaids and how their stories started. The article said that the first stories came from Assyria where a goddess named Atargatis turned herself into a mermaid after she accidentally killed the man she loved. It might be interesting to include the story of Atargatis in my project.

(Mermaid Swimming. Source: Wikipedia)

2. Possible Topic: Fairy Tales. Fairy tales also interest me so I feel like they could be a good potential storybook topic! I would want to focus more on the Brothers Grimm stories instead of the typical Disney fairy tales. I know the classic Brothers Grimm stories like Rapunzel, Cinderella, and Hansel and Grethel so I want to pick stories that I've never read before. I like that their stories have a dark twist to them and aren't just about the happy ending like most fairy tales. I want to learn more about the Grimm Brothers and why they choose this method of writing!

Research so far. I first started at Wikipedia to get some background information on the brothers and their stories. It was interesting to see that some people believed that their stories were inappropriate for children and wanted them to be taken out of the Brothers Grimm collection. Instead they chose to write a warning on the first page telling parents to be weary of the stories they read to their children. It might be fun to approach my storybook as the stories that you should steer your children away from and pick the creepiest stories from their collection.

3. Possible Topic: Urban Legends. Since I'm wanting to be a PA I find topics about science to be interesting! I happened to stumble upon urban legends but more specifically medical urban legends, which I thought could be an interesting topic for my project. I know of the common ones like don't go swimming after you've eaten, but I think it would be fun to learn about other urban legends in the health field. I wonder how urban legends come about and how many people actually believe them? It definitely would be a topic that I don't know much about so it would be pretty cool to learn more about it! 

Research so far. I followed a link to snopes.com and found some funny urban legends that had to do with Medical Myths. One of them stated "Drinking cold water after meals will lead to cancer" which is completely false, but I thought it was funny that it was considered an urban legend! I also found a link on Snopes that had a ton of urban legends about drugs which seemed pretty interesting. I think it would be fun to do a project coming from the perspective of a terrible doctor that is trying to pass these urban legends as truth to his patients! 

4. Possible Topic: Animal Stories. I love animals so of course this topic stood out to me! To narrow my focus a little I thought I could look at specific culture's animal stories. I was attracted to the Buddhist Jataka tales. I know that elephants are a big part of Indian culture, so I wasn't surprised when I saw a lot of stories with elephants in the title. I feel like it could be fun to have elephants be my focus and have them share their stories! I'm curious as to why elephants are such a big part of their culture and I want to learn more about other animals that are prominent in Indian culture. 

Research so far. I wanted to know more of what the tales were about so I looked them up on Wikipedia and got a lot of information on them. I found that they're one of the earliest forms of Buddhist literature and are the stories of the many lives of Buddha. Through more research, on a site that talked about Symbolism of Animals in Buddhism, I found that in one of his previous lives Buddha was born as an elephant which brings some clarity as to why elephants are such a big part of the Indian culture! It makes me want to read that story and possibly use it for part of my storybook.