Styles Brainstorm: Elephants in India

Topic. My storybook project will be about elephants in India. Since both Hinduism and Buddhism are the two main beliefs in India I thought it would be cool to find 4 stories involving elephants (2 Hindu and 2 Buddhist). While researching I found a story called Silava Elephant in the Jataka Collection that I would like to use in my storybook. Another story that I'm interested in using is The Liberation of Gajendra the Elephant. I like that both of these stories teach a lesson and have a good meaning behind them! I don't think it should be difficult to find two other stories since so much of Indian culture revolves around elephants. There are tons of Buddhist and Hindu stories to choose from! It'll be different to see how the two beliefs differ in their storytelling.

Bibliography: 
1. "Silava Elephant" by Dr C. B. Varma, from The Illustrated Jataka & Other Stories of the Buddha. Web Source: IGNCA.
3. "The Liberation of Gajendra the Elephant" by Sri Suka. Website: UnTextbook.

Brainstorm Styles:

1. Bedtime Story. I think it could be a fun style to use in my storybook since most of the stories involving elephants in Indian culture have to do with teaching a lesson. I could have a mom or dad getting their children ready for bed by reading them a story about one of these elephants! I feel like a lot of bedtime stories that parents use have some kind of learning aspect to them so these would work perfectly if I chose to use this style. I could even come up with a book title that tied all of the stories together.

2. Animals as the Narrator. This style would also work really well since my whole topic is over elephants! I could have the elephants telling their own stories and what really happened in first person instead of third person. I could have the elephants all come together for an evening meal and while they're hanging out tell stories of what's happened to them while they've all been apart. They could talk about what they learned from their mistakes and how they've changed since then!

3. Plot Twist. This could be an interesting style to use for the storybook because some of the stories I read I didn't really like how they ended so it would be fun to change the plot around! For example, in Silava Elephant I didn't like how the elephant so easily gave up its tusks... I wanted the man to have to earn them somehow by finishing a challenge or doing a good deed. I could change the plot of the story to make it so the man becomes a better person as he's working to earn the elephants tusks and then at the end he realizes that taking the tusks would be wrong and he no longer wants them.

4. Minor Character as a Storyteller. I like this kind of style because it's unexpected and creative! I could have a small mouse or even a fairy be apart of each story. They would see everything from a different point of view and be able to explain what happened from an unbiased standpoint. I could also have the minor character give their opinions on what should have happened to add another spin on the story!

(Elephant Illustration. Source: Pixabay)