Week 1: Storybook Favorites

The following were 3 of my favorite storybooks that I came across:

1. The Thin Line Between Tragedy and Comedy by Taylor Haddad

The topic of this story was Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, a topic that I am familiar with. The author of the story chose to write in a way that imitated Romeo and Juliet's personal diaries as they endured the various complications that were imposed on their relationship. I particularly enjoyed how the author chose to make the story interactive, such that the reader might determine the fate of the two lovers. The introduction did a great job of capturing my attention. Overall, this was a great story with a very unique twist. Navigating the story was easy, and good images were used throughout. I would like to employ the interactive style in my own writing later in the semester.

2. Bedtime Stories by Jocelin Chacko

Unlike the previous storybook, I was not familiar with the topics of these stories. I really enjoyed the author's creativity, and how she broke the book into several short stories. The introduction did a good job of, well, introducing each of the families. I was not particularly fond of the sites navigation. The bar on the left hand side could have been larger, or possibly a different color, so that it could be recognized more easily. That being said, the stories were great, and I really enjoyed that images that were used on each page. The idea of diving the assignment into several shorter stories was creative, and I may consider doing this.

3. Epic Indian Battles by ???

Once again, I was not familiar with the topic of this storybook. This author also chose to break the book into several shorter stories about various battles. Something that I found particularly interesting about this storybook is that the author chose to include a unique soundtrack that the readers were intended to play as they read each story. In fact, there was one story in which the author requested us to read at a particular rate such that the soundtrack might influence the emotion of the story. I would have liked to accredit this work to the author, but could not find his/her name within the storybook. Overall, the stories were good and music was a unique addition. The author used several pictures, but I would have liked them to be placed in a more creative manner, instead of at the top of each page.