Storybook Favorites

The Diary of a Dog

I really enjoyed these reinterpretations of Aesop's Fables by having them be from a dog's perspective. I liked that it was a reinterpretation instead of a retelling because it shows real creativity and gives the old fables an innovative update. The entire thing also read almost like a children's book (mainly due to fables always having a lesson to be learned) making it very fun and easy to understand. The author was very smart to use her own dog, Cedie, as the main character because her passion for both her dog and these fables really shown through. She also was able to include many really cute pictures of her dog in her storybook.

(fables found at The Diary of a Dog)

The Golden-Doodle and the Wolf

Dear Diary: Camp Olympus

I didn't mean to chose another story that was also a diary but I just love Greek Mythology so much! I was really drawn to this story in particular because one of my favorite book series is the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and one of the main locations is a summer camp called Camp Halfblood. Like the previous storybook I read, this one also reinterpreted the myths into new events which always keeps things interesting. While the story of Poseidon and Athena fighting over Athens is a popular story, I didn't even realize the first story was based on that myth until the author's note. It was really nice to read something that was very original but stays true to the source material.

(myths found at Camp Olympus)

CSI: The Tales of the Seven Pilgrims

I love a good mystery and this was definitely a good mystery! It was really well thought out and very well written. I liked that the author used different stories and characters that all interacted with the merchant to create one big story instead of each story being a different crime. This storybook seemed like a combination of a reinterpretation and a retelling because obviously The Canterbury Tales wasn't a crime novel but the characters and their stories were the same as the source material. This version was also much easier to read than the original which is in Old English.

(tales found at The Tales of the Seven Pilgrims)

(image: The golden-doodle and the wolf, photo from me and the wolf, made with Face in Hole, original from Source)