Storybook Favorites—Diary of Saints, Hell on Earth, and El Salvador Legends

 As I scrolled through previous storybooks, dozens stood out to me as being especially creative, interesting, or funny. After poking around these, three caught my eye as being especially well-written and captivating. In each, the writer found a unique way to incorporate old stories into a new narrative with its own message, and this is what I'd like to accomplish in my storybook eventually.

1. Diary of Saints

I initially clicked on this storybook because I grew up Catholic, and I was curious to see what approach this one would take. I loved the introduction, which was from the perspective of a school girl getting a tour of a cathedral. She found a dark, secluded room with three diaries. The introduction accomplished a lot; it set the tone, sparked curiosity, and let the reader know what they would find in the storybook. The stained glass background made the introduction feel even more realistic, and I liked how each story continued from the same perspective. The writer had the girl learn something from each saint—for example she couldn't read the diary entry from Joan of Arc until she had enough courage—and I thought that was a good touch. Each diary entry featured the same elements—a title with the name of the saint and a picture of them. This lead to easy, organized navigation.

Stained glass window similar to image in "Diary of Saints" storybook, via Flickr.

2. Hell on Earth

"Welcome to Hell" piqued my interest at first because I grew up learning about Greek and Roman mythology, and I thought this might be about Hades or something similar. I have never read Dante's inferno, which inspired the author of this storybook, but I was drawn in by the thoughtful, philosophical nature of the introduction and stories. The introduction, though creatively told from the perspective of Vergil, was extremely clear in outlining the stories. A bulleted list with the title and description of each story let me know what I would read and drew me in even further. When it comes to the actual stories, I liked how the author used images to depict the setting of the story, not just of the characters, to make readers feel like they are there. Additionally, the stories were told from modern-day perspectives, which made them seem more interesting and relevant to me.

One of the images showing the setting in the "Hell on Earth" storybook, via pixabay.

3. El Salvador Legends

I clicked on "El Salvador Legends" because I've always been interested in learning more about Latin America, though most of what I know is from regions other than El Salvador. In the introduction, a grandfather is telling stories to his grandchildren, and that really caught my attention because it was well-written and reminded me of when I was younger and my grandpa told me stories. The storybook was well-organized, with each story labelled as an "encounter" and the same cover photo used on each page of the website. I also liked how the author included Spanish in the stories, because it made the reading feel more authentic. Latin was similarly used in the "Diary of Saints" storybook. A glossary with translations at the end was a nice touch.