Author: Rebecca Resinski

My first paper on the intersection of Classics and children’s literature was delivered at “Asterisks and Obelisks,” an international conference held in Lampeter, Wales, in the summer of 2009.  I presented “Revising Pandora (and Rewriting Eve) in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Wonder Book.” (Click on the paper title for a PDF of the talk.)

A writing-intensive seminar course for 11 students.  The reading list included:

ON INTERPRETING PICTUREBOOKS

Molly Bang, Picture This: How Pictures Work
Lawrence R. Sipe, “The Art of the Picturebook”
Chris Raschka, “Point of Departure”
David Wiesner, “Point of Departure”

PICTUREBOOKS and BOOKS WITH PICTURES

Guy Billout, Thunderbolt and Rainbow
M. Charlotte Craft and Kinuko Y. Craft, Cupid and Psyche
Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire, D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths
Demi, King Midas
Sara Fanelli, Mythological Monsters
Neil Gaiman et al., Fables & Reflections, “The Song of Orpheus” and “Thermidor”
Nathaniel Hawthorne, A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys with Arthur Rackham illustrations
Joan Holub and Leslie Patricelli, Be Patient, Pandora!
G. Brian Karas, Young Zeus
Erroll Le Cain, illustrations for Cupid and Psyche
Marianna Mayer and Kinuko Y. Craft, Pegasus
Christopher Myers, Wings
Anders Nilsen, Rage of Poseidon
Juliet Rix and Juliet Snape, A-maze-ing Minotaur
Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are
Dugald Steer et al., Mythology (in the Ology series)
Ann Turnbull and Sarah Young, Greek Myths
Rosemary Wells, Max and Ruby in Pandora’s Box
Marcia Williams, Greek Myths

Group Projects on Versions of the Demeter and Persephone Myth

Sally Pomme Clayton and Virginia Lee, Persephone
Laura Geringer and Leonid Gore, The Pomegranate Seeds
Glen Huser, Phillipe Béha, and Giannis Georgantelis, Time for Flowers, Time for Snow
Kris Waldherr, Persephone and the Pomegranate

Individual Projects

James C. Christensen, Alan Dean Foster, and Renwick St. James, Voyage of the Bassett
M. Charlotte Craft and Kinuko Y. Craft, King Midas and the Golden Touch
David and Ruth Ellwand, Midas Mouse
Virginia Hamilton and Barry Moser, In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World, Greek section
Blake A. Hoena and Daniel Perez, Perseus and Medusa
Eric A. Kimmel and Pep Montserrat, The McElderry Book of Greek Myths, Daedalus and Icarus story
Nancy Krulik, Hades: The Truth at Last
Charles Mikolaycak, Orpheus
Rick Riordan and Attila Futaki, The Lightning Thief graphic novel
Jeanne and William Steig, A Gift from Zeus
Ann Turnbull and Sarah Young, Greek Myths, Phaethon story

And relevant ancient works throughout the semester

A writing-intensive seminar course for 9 students.

We started with FOUNDATIONAL ANTHOLOGIES

Ingri d’Aulaire and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire, D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths
Nathaniel Hawthorne, A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys with Arthur Rackham illustrations

And then we looked at MORE RECENT ANTHOLOGIES

Dugald Steer et al., Mythology (in the Ology series)
Elizabeth Spires and Mordicai Gerstein, I Am Arachne
Marcia Williams, Greek Myths
Marilyn Singer and Josee Masse, Echo Echo

We moved from Singer and Masse’s text to OTHER PICTUREBOOKS

Guy Billout, Thunderbolt & Rainbow
Marianna Mayer and Kinuko Y. Craft, Pegasus
Christopher Myers, Wings
Rosemary Wells, Max and Ruby in Pandora’s Box and Max and Ruby’s Midas

And we concluded with NOVELS

Nikki Loftin, The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy
Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief
Marilyn Sachs, The Fat Girl
Neal Shusterman, The Eyes of Kid Midas
Cynthia Voigt, Orfe

Throughout the course we also read relevant ANCIENT TEXTS

Ovid, Metamorphoses, selections
Homeric Hymn to Demeter
Vergil, Georgics, Orpheus story in book 4