Mique Reads

http://shonnaslayton.com/grimmread2019-week-4-challenge-and-linky-party-hansel-and-gretel-more/ This week contains a lot of 3's. "The Three Little Men in the Woods": This tale has many elements of other Fairy tales, including "Snow White" (an evil stepmother, a kind beautiful girl, little men in a cottage in the woods), "Toads and Diamonds", (two sisters, one good and one selfish, one speaks gold and one speaks toads), and "Little Brother and Little Sister" (a sister is made queen, then killed by the stepmother, she returns in the form of a duck, she takes her own form at night to nurse her child, she is resurrected). Goodness is rewarded and selfishness is punished as per usual. Water and the color red seem to have significance in this story, but I haven't really figured out what that significance is. What is with the boot filled with water? Also, I've noticed that while stepmothers are bad in these tales, father's who a...

Just some images I found online and edited.  Inspired by #GRIMMread2019 (to my knowledge, these images are either in the public domain, free stock images, or free wallpapers.)

http://shonnaslayton.com/grimmread2019-week-3-challenge-and-linky-party/ Something I noticed about this week's stories, is that in 3 out of 4 of them, the sister/princess rescues the brother/s/prince.  "The Twelve Brothers": This is named for the brothers, but their sister is the protagonist. This story is very similar to "The Six Swans". The brothers are turned into Ravens, and the sister undoes the curse by remaining silent. "Little Brother and Little Sister": I've picked up on similarities between this one and "Hansel and Gretel". The antagonist is a Witch/Evil Stepmother. The boy is attacked by the Witch first, and he is saved by the actions of his sister. First she protects him when he is transformed into a roe. Secondly, she frees him from this transformation when she kills the Witch. Also, I think this is the 4th story I've noticed so far that includes a resurrection. "Rapunzel": Rapunzel saves th...

Format: Audiobook Categories: Classic by a Woman Author- Back to the Classics Reading Challenge 2019  ( Books and Chocolate) Three books by the same author- #mmdchallenge 2019 ( Modern Mrs Darcy) Contains Spoilers "I've done many things that I thought I would never dare to do because they were sins. But I didn't realize then that the consequence of sin is that you have to trample on other people ." On the surface this story can seem a bit melodramatic, but it's really a very deep book. It's beautifully written, but it's heartbreaking as well. The descriptions are on point. It follows Kristin from a child to her wedding to Erland. I love the Catholicism of it. This culture of Medieval Norway is very Catholic, but still steeped in paganism. They praise God, yet utter curses. Pray to the Saints, but believe in Fae. They believe in trusting God's will for them, but they are also superstitious. Many priests are good, but Undset do...

http://shonnaslayton.com/grimmread2019-week-2-challenge-and-linky-party/ Of this week's stories: "The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids", "Faithful John", "The Good Bargain", and " The Wonderful Musician",  I think the first is the darkest, even though it may not seem to be on the surface. It is also timely. Yeah, sure the kids get their happy ending, but this happy ending is also very disturbing. The Little Kids go through great trauma, and as a result they lose their innocence, and they can't get it back. Who was to blame? The adults in the situation, possibly excepting Mother Goat. She had to go to the forest and couldn't take all seven of her kids with her, so she left them very clear instructions to protect them. Mother Goat did her best, but couldn't protect the kids. The Kids follow her instructions, but are outsmarted by the deceptive Wolf, who greedily swallows six of them whole. The youngest kid outsmarts the Wolf by ...

I've decided to participate in the Back to the Classics Reading Challenge this year. Here is a tentative list of the books I plan to read for each category THE CATEGORIES: 1. 19th Century Classic- The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald 2. 20th Century Classic - Roverandom by J. R. R. Tolkein (published posthumously 1998) 3. Classic by a Woman Author- The Wreath (Kristin Lavransdatter #1) by Sigrid Undset 4. Classic in Translation. The Wife (Kristin Lavransdatter #2) by Sigrid Undset 5. Classic Comic Novel- The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery 6. Classic Tragic Novel- The Cross (Kristin Lavransdatter #3) by Sigrid Undset 7. Very Long Classic- Middlemarch by George Eliot (Approx. 890 pages) 8. Classic Novella- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (Original 1818 Edition- Approx. 150 pages) 9. Classic From the Americas- My Ántonia by Willa Cather (Setting: Nebraska, USA) 10. Classic From Africa, Asia, or Oceania (includes Australia)- The Silver Brumby by Elyne Mitch...

http://shonnaslayton.com/grimmread2019-fairy-tale-retelling-source-material / As strange and dark as some of these stories are, I am always so fascinated in the origins of modern day retellings of fairy tales. In terms of morals, "Cat and Mouse in Partnership" and "Our Lady's Child" make the most sense, even though "Our Lady's Child" is a very strange blend of faith and fantasy, which I think could be very confusing to children. "Cat and Mouse in Partnership" warns against naivete, while "Our Lady's Child" warns against pride. "The Story of the Youth who Went Forth to Learn what Fear was" was actually my favorite out of these four stories. It was creepy and humorous. I'm still wracking my brain over "The Frog King".