Possible Topics for a Storybook

I'm leaning towards doing a portfolio instead of a storybook, but I've really enjoyed looking into possible topics for storybooks, if I choose to do one after all! Most of my ideas stem from my interest in Native American studies. I'm familiar with a lot of Native American themes and characters, so it would be very cool to be able to delve deeper.

1. Native American Traditions. I have looked at some past Storybooks on Native American topics, and I think they're really interesting. I've also taken a few classes over Native American Culture, so that's why this topic sparked my interest. I would love to learn more about tribes that I haven't studied before, and this could be a great opportunity.

(Winter Awakening of the O-khoo-wah,

by Helen Hardin [1943-1984];University of Oklahoma FJJMA

2. Animal Stories. There are many Native American animal stories, so that aspect of it really interests me. I like that I would have flexibility to mix some Native American stories that I know with other stories that I might not know. I found past Storybooks about animals to be some of my favorite storybooks. I also hope to learn more about the similarities and differences on how various animals are viewed in stories around the world.

3. Creation Stories. Creation stories have the same flexibility with mixing and matching Native American stories that I know with stories that are new to me. I've done some prior research when I wrote a research paper over an Aluet creation myth in a Native American philosophy class. This List of Creation Myths was really interesting to me, so I will definitely want to look into this list more. I know a few specific tribes' creation stories, but I would love to learn many more and pick my favorites to retell.

4. Ballads: Stories in Song. I was really interested in the complete Francis Child Ballads, and I think it could be interesting to try and retell songs. This would be the most challenging idea, I believe. I like music, so I would be interested to see what stories used to be told through songs. When I retell stories I usually try to keep the theme or general sentiment of the story the same. It seems like with ballads the parts of the story are harder to isolate from the theme. This is why I think it would be harder to retell songs.