Reading Notes: Czech Folktales Unit, Part A

This week I am reading stories from the Czech Folktales Unit by Josef Baudis. I typically like to look at all of the units before I make a selection, but I thought I have to read the Czech unit since my father's side of the family is Czechoslovakian. There were a lot of new and familiar things in this unit.

I think the Waternick story was my favorite. It reminded me of Hanzel und Gretyl, which is one of my childhood favorites. I would like to know a little bit more about what a waternick is because I would like to think that it could fit in my storybook project. However, it would still be nice to recreate a waternick story this week.

Another thing that I liked in Part A of this reading unit was the enchanted swords in the story, The Twin Brothers. It was interesting that one of the brother's sword would rust if the other one was in trouble. One thing that I found myself confused about is why one twin decided to hide his identity, pretending to be his brother. I could not tell if he was trying to replace his brother at first, but then felt guilty; or, did he not want to worry the wife and was trying to trace his brother's steps...? Which that does not make sense because the wife knew where he went, so why lie about who he is? I did not see where that played out in anyone's favor, it kind of just happened.

Anyways, I also like the story Kojata. This story reminded me of Rumpelstiltskin, which I am sure I have reiterated how much I love that story enough at this point. This was, of course, a bit different, but there were still a lot of themes that are parallel to Rumpelstiltskin. One of the themes that always catches my attention is how the parents give up their child, whether it is willingly or not. It always seems that there is not much of an initial fight put up. In this case, the king was forgetful. I am glad that I ran into a story like this because it sparked my imagination and I think I have the missing piece to my final story in my storybook project...


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