week 3 reading notes: saints and animals - part b

"The Fish Who Helped Saint Gudwall" link to story

• The story has great vivid imagery. 

• I think the story has great action writing. The personification and the vivid details help to create a scene of what is happening in my head. 

• It would be fun to recreate the story in a different setting and use different animal(s). 

"The Wolf-Mother of Saint Ailbe" link to story

• I thought the story was sweet. It has enough suspense that made me want to continue reading...to find out what would happen to Ailbe or what would happen to the wolves.

• Third-person point of view allows readers to feel and experience the pain and sadness of the wolf-mother and Ailbe. If I wanted to retell this story, I think it would be interesting to tell one part from the wolf-mother’s point of view and another part from Ailbe’s. Then, maybe go back to third-person in the end. 

• I was glad to see Ailbe and his wolf-mother reunite in the end. Ailbe’s heart didn’t change even though he lived a richer lifestyle and became a bishop; he protected his first mother who basically raised him. 

• The story doesn’t tell much about Ailbe’s foster parents, the Prince and Princess, when he reunited with his wolf-mother. How did they feel? 

• In the end, I loved that Ailbe got to be with his wolf family again. 

  
  

  
  A little boy with his wolf family. Web Source

"The Ballad of Saint Giles and the Deer" link to story

• I liked the rhyming scheme; it would be difficult for me to write a story like that though. I prefer to read a traditional type of story. Perhaps, I could recreate the story in a more traditional format.

• It’s sweet that Saint Giles offered his life to protect the deer. I didn’t expect the King to have compassion for both Saint Giles and the deer that he let them live and offered his word to protect.

Bibliography:

All of these stories are from The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts by Abbie Farwell Brown.