No Rain Checks

For this extra credit reading, I chose to read "Down the Rabbit Hole," "Down the Rabbit Hole (cont.)" and "Down the Rabbit Hole (end)." Down the Rabbit Hole These three stories tell the original Alice in Wonderland story of Alice following the rabbit to the rabbit hole. I wanted to reread these stories so that I could brainstorm ideas for my storybook project! Alice was having a boring day until she saw a white rabbit that was in a hurry. Because she was so bored, she was extra interested in the rabbit. The rabbit took a watch out of his pocket and spoke that he was going to be late, which Alice didn't know if she imagined. So she followed the rabbit as it ran away. Alice followed the rabbit right into a rabbit hole that she didn't see, and fell down the long tunnel whether she wanted to or not. Down and down it went, and Alice wondered when she'd ever hit the ground... And where'd she'd be when she did. Down the Rabbit Hole (con...

For this extra reading, I chose to read " Advice from a Caterpillar " from one of the Alice in Wonderland stories. Advice from a Caterpillar In this story, Alice comes across a Caterpillar. The Caterpillar wants to know who she is, and Alice is still shaken up from all of her adventures. She tells him she feels different, but he does not understand. The Caterpillar was irritated with Alice not answering his questions, so Alice tried to leave. But the Caterpillar lured her back in by telling her there was something important he had to say. Advice From a Caterpillar (cont.) In this continuation, the Caterpillar begins a poem and Alice finishes it. She knew the entire dialogue. Once she finished, the Caterpillar criticized her and told her it was not said right. Alice acknowledges that there are some changes, but he still believes it's all wrong. The Caterpillar asked Alice what size she wanted to be, in which she answered 3 inches. She was rapidly shrinking, and the C...

One day, in the heart of South Africa, there was an Elephant. Elephant was extremely dehydrated, and he had been searching for water for days. Elephant begged the Earth to rain, but had no luck. He eventually set out to find someone or something that could get him water. South African Elephant.  Photo from Wikipedia. Elephant talked to many animals that could not help him. Once he spoke to a Crow who cast lots to produce rain, rain fell into lagoons. Elephant was overjoyed, but quickly saw that the water supply was not nearly enough. He needed to keep this water while also continuing to search for more. The Elephant came across a Tortoise near the water. He asked the Tortoise to watch over his water supply and to not let any other being have it. The Tortoise agreed, scared of the Elephant's size. As the Elephant searched for more water, he didn't find any luck. He went back to the lagoon to drink what he had left, but when he arrived there was no water. Tortoise explai...

For Reading B, I chose the South African tale " Elephant and Tortoise ." In this story, there are a few main characters: all powerful beings. The story starts with the Elephant seeking rain. After Rain said it was departing, Elephant spoke to a Vulture who could not provide water. Then Elephant spoke to a Crow who cast lots to produce rain. The rain fell into lagoons, but it dried up quickly. Then the Elephant came across a Tortoise, and told the Tortoise to remain by the water while it's still there. Elephant wanted Tortoise to protect what was left of the water while he was in search of getting more. South African Elephant. Photo from Wikipedia. While the Tortoise was protecting the water, a Giraffe, Zebra, Gemsbok, Wildebeest, Roodebok, Springbok, Jackal and Lion came begging for the water. The Tortoise responded, "The water belongs to Elephant" to each of them. However, the Lion did not even let the Tortoise speak before he beat him. The Lion dran...

This week, I read an African tale " The Monkey's Fiddle ." Here is a vervet monkey. Photo from Wikipedia . This Monkey lived in South Africa. One day, hunger forced Monkey to leave his land and travel elsewhere in search of food. He sought shelter with his uncle, Orang Outang, who lived in a different area. Monkey's uncle gave him two gifts: a fiddle and a bow and arrow. The bow and arrow was for food, and the fiddle was to force 'anything to dance.' Monkey ran into a Wolf first. The Wolf was also in search of food, and had his eye on a deer. Monkey  and Wolf worked together to capture and share the deer for a meal. The Wolf had put in lots of effort to capture the deer with no luck - yet, the Monkey just used the bow and arrow and successfully captured the deer. The Wolf was jealous of Monkey's weapon, and he begged Monkey for the bow and arrow. They argued for awhile, and as a Jackal came by, the Wolf claimed that Monkey stole the weapon fro...