As a Classics minor, most of my experience with mythology and folklore is with Greek and Roman myths. Because of this, I wanted to look for storybooks that come from many different places outside of the Mediterranean. Here are my three favorite non-Greek or Roman storybooks.
Storybook 1: The Greatest Trickster
I really enjoyed what the author did with the three stories presented here, merging together common trickster legends from three different cultures. Stories of mischievous tricksters are very common in all cultures, so it was interesting to see the three characters, Reynard, Brer Rabbit, and the Tanuki interact in a way that has never been done before, attempting to "out-trick" one another. While the website itself didn't provide much of an introduction, and the Brer Rabbit story lacked images to break up the text, the content was very enjoyable. Though I'm not entirely sure why the Tanuki didn't just shapeshift into a fish at the end.
Storybook 2: Beowulf
One of the original epic heroes of history, Beowulf's tale is one that has always interested me, but I've never actually got around to reading it. While this is no substitute for reading the entire epic, it is an enjoyable highlight reel showcasing some of the feats accomplished by the Scandinavian hero. The website design is also clean and straightforward, providing plenty of information to supplement the stories themselves.
Storybook 3: Tales of Davy Jones Locker
Storybook 1: The Greatest Trickster
Falkland Island Fox by John Keulemans (Wikimedia)
Storybook 2: Beowulf
One of the original epic heroes of history, Beowulf's tale is one that has always interested me, but I've never actually got around to reading it. While this is no substitute for reading the entire epic, it is an enjoyable highlight reel showcasing some of the feats accomplished by the Scandinavian hero. The website design is also clean and straightforward, providing plenty of information to supplement the stories themselves.
Storybook 3: Tales of Davy Jones Locker
I have always been quite interested in the weird world of pirate mythos. The amalgamation of cultures that influence the tales mixed with the wild and weird superstitions of sailors make for folk legends unlike any other. I like the direction the author took for this storybook, inserting themselves as a character to spectate these tales and figures, without taking too much creative liberty so as to make the legends themselves unrecognizable. I also enjoyed the design choice of placing pictures throughout the stories to sort of signify who was speaking at the time, as this made the stories themselves easier to follow.
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