Story Planning: Tom Tit Tot

Source Notes:

There was once a woman who baked five pies. She overbaked them. She told her daughter to put them on the window ledge because “They’ll come again,” meaning the crust will soften. The daughter was confused and thought she needed to eat them so that they can actually come again. She ate them all. Later, the mother asked the daughter to fetch a pie because they must’ve come again. The daughter checked and the dishes were still empty. The mother began to sing about how her daughter ate five pies. The king overheard this song but could not hear the words so he stopped to listen. The mother, ashamed, changed the words of the song to make the song about her daughter spinning five skeins. The king wanted a wife that could do that, so the king asked to wed her daughter. The mother agreed, and the king said if the daughter could not spin five skeins every December day that he would kill her. The last day of December came and the daughter had to spin five skeins or else shed die. She began to weep out of fear when a little black thing with a long tail came in and asked what was wrong. The thing decided to help the girl spin the skeins, but if the daughter could not guess its name by the end of the month, then the girl would become hers. Every day, the daughter received the flax and food. Everyday the thing came and took the flax, and returned in the evening with spun skeins. The daughter was unable to guess the name of the creature, and on the second to last night, the king decided to eat with the girl. He told a story of how he ran across this little black thing that was spinning a wheel super fast. The thing was singing, “Nimmy nimmy not My name’s Tom Tit Tot.” The next day, the thing came back one last time ready to take the girl; however, this time the girl got his name correctly. The thing shrieked and vanished.

Character Sketches:

The daughter will be somewhat of a disappointment. She does a lot of things incorrectly in the home. Her parents are getting tired of all her mistakes and want her to move out. When the king surprises the parents with a marriage offer, the parents are quick to accept.

The king will be a little crueler. The daughter will resent having to go live with him.

The little black thing will have more description because if not for the illustrations you almost think of a cat not a gremlin looking thing. He will be more mischievous and sneaky in my story. He will have the plan to take the girl for his own before the conversation with her.

Tom Tit Tot

By John D. Batten found on Sacred Texts

Bibliography:

English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1890). Link

Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales Part B

Henny Penny

By Paul Galdone found on Old Children's Books

Henny Penny

There was a hen named Henny Penny. She was picking corn in the cornyard when something hit her on the head. She immediately thought the sky was falling, and so she went to tell the king. On her travels, she met Cocky-locky. Cocky-locky decided he wanted to travel with Henny Penny. They then ran into Ducky-daddles. Ducky-daddles joined in on the adventure. Next, they ran into Goosey-poosey, who joined them on the road to the king. Turkery-lurkey was the next to join the crew, before Foxy-woxy joined. Foxy-woxy told the crew that the way to the king was a different path than they were on. Foxy-woxy led them to his cave and he entered first. The next person through the cave opening was Turkey-lurkey, and Foxy-woxy snapped his neck. Next, Goosey-poosey entered, and foxy-woxy snapped his next. The Ducky-daddles entered, and again foxy-woxy snapped another neck. Lastly, cocky-locky entered and foxy-woxy did the same to him; however, the snap didn’t kill cocky-locky. Cocky-locky yelled out to Henny Penny who turned around and ran home. She was unable to tell the king that the sky was falling.

Mr. Fox

Lady Mary was young with two brothers and many lovers. Mr. Fox was the bravest and most gallant of all. Lady Mary cared for Mr. Fox above anyone else. Mr. Fox had a castle but never asked anyone to visit it. One day when Mr. Fox was gone, Lady Mary set off for the castle. Lady Mary found a room with many dead beautiful ladies. She ran out but had to hide from Mr. Fox who was dragging another new body into the room. Lady Mary waited for Mr. Fox to pass her hiding place before running home. Before they signed the marriage contract, Lady Mary told the story of the previous day as if it were a dream. Mr. Fox denied all of it until Lady Mary pulled out the hand of one of the dead girls. At that moment, her brothers killed Mr. Fox.

Bibliography:

English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs. Link

Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales Part A

Tom Tit Tot

There was once a woman who baked five pies. She overbaked them. She told her daughter to put them on the window ledge because “They’ll come again,” meaning the crust will soften. The daughter was confused and thought she needed to eat them so that they can actually come again. She ate them all. Later, the mother asked the daughter to fetch a pie because they must’ve come again. The daughter checked and the dishes were still empty. The mother began to sing about how her daughter ate five pies. The king overheard this song but could not hear the words so he stopped to listen. The mother, ashamed, changed the words of the song to make the song about her daughter spinning five skeins. The king wanted a wife that could do that, so the king asked to wed her daughter. The mother agreed, and the king said if the daughter could not spin five skeins every December day that he would kill her. The last day of December came and the daughter had to spin five skeins or else shed die. She began to weep out of fear when a little black thing with a long tail came in and asked what was wrong. The thing decided to help the girl spin the skeins, but if the daughter could not guess its name by the end of the month, then the girl would become hers. Every day, the daughter received the flax and food. Everyday the thing came and took the flax, and returned in the evening with spun skeins. The daughter was unable to guess the name of the creature, and on the second to last night, the king decided to eat with the girl. He told a story of how he ran across this little black thing that was spinning a wheel super fast. The thing was singing, “Nimmy nimmy not My name’s Tom Tit Tot.” The next day, the thing came back one last time ready to take the girl; however, this time the girl got his name correctly. The thing shrieked and vanished.

Tom Tit Tot

By John D. Batten found on Sacred Texts

Bibliography:

English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1890). Link

Tech Tip: Reverse Image Source

Ravana tricks Sita and then abducts her.

By Margery H Freeman, found here

Portfolio Index

Sinbad's Secret
Sinbad the Sailor has survived many voyages, in many different ways; however, it was the fourth voyage that would stick with him the longest. He must learn to let go of his dark past if he wants to move on to a brighter future. In this story, Sinbad spills his secret past to an unlikely listener, the local bartender.

Rasalu the Olympian
Raja Rasalu spent the first twelve years of his life locked away in a cellar. After he was rescued from the cellar, he had two choices: play the pity card for the remainder of his life or rise up and make something of his life. This is the story of how Rasalu rose up to the challenge and became an Olympic hero.

Anansi's Jealousy
Anansi grew up in a poor family, living next door to a wealthy family. He always wanted a different and better life. Driven by jealousy of his neighbor's wealth, Anansi murdered his neighbor, and paid the ultimate price. This is the story of Anansi's jealousy as told by his son to his grandson.

Scout's Adventure
Scout had aspirations to join the army and run alongside the knights. One day, the general decided to give Scout his big break. Scout's first battle action is relived in this story.

Iliad of a Home
Boredom can drive kids to fight over nothing. This is the story of brothers bickering over something as simple as possession of a toy.

Reading Notes: King Arthur Part A

King Arthur's Sword, Excalibur

Found on Pixabay

At one point in Britain history, there was no king. All of the knights attempted to seize the throne. It was decided that on Christmas day, all of the lords would arrive in London. There was a large stone with a sword in it. Written on the stone was the decree that whoever pulled the sword out would be worthy to be king. None of the knights could pull out the sword. They decided to then hold a tournament. Sir Kay forgot his sword, and so he asked Arthur to fetch it. The door to Sir Kay’s house was locked, so Arthur could not retrieve the sword. He panicked and rode to the stone with the sword. He easily pulled out the sword and rode back to Sir Kay. Sir Kay realized which sword it was and proclaimed himself to be the new king. Sir Ector asked how he got the sword. Kay said that Arthur gave it to him. Then Ector asked Arthur how he got it. Arthur said he pulled out the sword. Arthur was then proclaimed to be king. They tested the sword again. No one could pull it out again but Arthur could.

Arthur needed a sword. Merlin took him to a lake where a lady was standing on the water, holding a sword. The lady said she would give Arthur the sword in return for a gift. Arthur got the sword which was called Excalibur. Arthur loved the sword.

Now Arthur needed a wife. There was a girl whom he loved, Guenevere. Merlin rode to the Court of King Leodegrance to ask that Arthur could wed his daughter. King Leodegrance was happy and decided as a gift to Arthur, he would give him the Round Table. On his wedding day, he named a poor man’s son a knight.

Bibliography:

King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1902).

Reading Notes: Beowulf Part B

Painting of Grendel from Beowulf

ByMarshall, Henrietta Elizabeth found on Wiki

Beowulf lay on the couch in the feasting hall, pretending to be dead but constantly scanning the room. It was a foggy night, and it was silent. Beowulf was fighting off drowsiness. Suddenly, there was a rustling noise coming from the forest. Something massive emerged from the forest and made its way to the hall. Grendel made his way to the door and stopped. He put a spell over those who were asleep, to make their sleep deeper. Beowulf was half asleep so the spell only partly affected him, and he fought it hard. Grendel slowly and silently began to break the hinges on the door. Then he broke down the door, snapping Beowulf out of his trance. He fought off the remainder of the spell as he looked at Grendel. By the time Beowulf broke the spell, Grendel had already feasted on everyone else. Then Grendel came after Beowulf. They began to battle silently. None of the sleepers awoke. It was a stalemate until Beowulf slipped. Then Beowulf had the upper hand with both of them on the ground. Beowulf tried to strangle Grendel, but his hands could not grip the scale like neck of Grendel. Beowulf ripped off Grendel’s arm. At this point, the spell wore off and everyone woke up. Everyone celebrated that Beowulf was able to rip off his arm. The next day a messenger told the king and queen that someone had been murdered and dismembered at the hall. Grendel’s arm had also been stolen back. Beowulf decides to go out and find Grendel’s mother before night. Beowulf decided to take on the monster on his own. Beowulf found Grendel’s mother and battled her. She had snakes for hair. She was protected by magic, so Beowulf could not strike her. Finally, Beowulf won the battle and then cut off Grendel’s head for good.

Bibliography:

The Story of Beowulf by Strafford Riggs with illustrations by Henry Pitz (1933).