The latest issue of Storytime is super-special! It features three superheroes, created by our readers. Austin Hunt came up with the many-armed alien Zebly Titan, Ojas Prabhu created Supercorn Bob, and Emma Bowler was behind the amazing Froglleta!
We had planned to do a story featuring one winning creation, but Storytime readers are incredibly creative and came up with hundreds of amazing entries. In the end we couldn’t pick just one and chose our three favourites instead!
As this issue features superheroes, it made us think about the question: what makes a hero?
And how could we be heroes in our daily lives?
Storytime Issue 70 – We Could Be Heroes!
Our cover story, Zebly Titan and the Mystery of GLOP! is a story about heroes, each of whom have their own special powers. So is it powers that make someone a hero? This might seem like a simple question, but most heroes face supervillains who also have powers and are definitely not heroic! No, the thing that makes someone a hero is how they behave in difficult circumstances!
When Zebly Titan , Supercorn Bob and Froglleta are faced with a mysterious alien who accidentally pollutes their hometown, they manage to save the day by thinking things through, talking with other people – and baking some nice healthy snacks to share! We might not have super powers, but we can follow the example of the alien and his friends to be heroes in our day-to-day lives. The art by Gaby Zermeño really brings these characters to life!
Native American hero, Redhorn, uses his quick wits to win the Great Race in our new issue
Redhorn and the Great Race is a fun story about one of the favourite heroes of the Sioux people of North America. At the beginning of the story, the hero is not big or strong or famous – in fact, he is not called Redhorn at all, but has the embarrassing nickname ‘He-who-had-deer-lungs-thrown-at-him’! But the hero uses cleverness (and his magic!) to foil the turtle-spirit who cheats in the race. The plucky hero then uses his powers to shape and colour his hair into a new pointy style and chooses a new name: Redhorn. We could see Redhorn is a hero because he values fair play, uses his wits to solve problems, and makes his own decisions. Perhaps we all have something to learn from him? Illustrations by Hugo Cuellar add some extra magic to the tale!
The Birthday of the Fairy Queen is an Irish tale about a girl named Nora who gets invited to a very special party. Nora is a good person, but she doesn’t really act like a hero. However, when she goes to the Fairy Queen’s party, the ruler is honouring fairies who have done great things. Some of these are brave fairy-knights, but most are hard-working old gnomes that fix roads, take care of nature, and help others. This story reminds us that in real life, there are many heroes who don’t get medals, but whose hard work makes life better for all of us – and it is important to remember them! The art by Pete Olczyk welcomes us into the hidden fairy world…
The Mermaid and the Boy is the fairy tale in this issue and tell us the story of a young prince who wins the heart of a princess but is kidnapped by the evil Mermaid Queen. The prince is a classic fairy-tale hero, but to escape from his underwater prison, he needs help from his lady love, who plays her violin to guide him home. Like the prince, we all need help from others, no matter how heroic you try to be! Watch out for the luminous art by Rita Del Sorbo.
The Calabash Kids tells a tale of fruits that transform into children to help a lonely Tanzanian widow with her work on the farm. These hard-working and cheerful children transform her life – even the largest one, who is not good at working but cheers up everyone with his happy smile. The Calabash Kids become heroes by working to help others, which is something we can all aspire to. Monika Suska’s pictures bring the calabash kids to life, in more ways than one!
These quarrelsome friends learn some lessons about forgiveness in this month’s fable
The Jackal and the Camel is a fable of two characters who are definitely not heroic. In fact, they work together to eat a farmer’s crops and chickens! However, when the jackal thoughtlessly howls after eating, this leads to the farmer catching and punishing the camel… The camel then decides to show the jackal how selfish he was by threatening to dunk him in the river! However, the jackal admits that he was wrong, and the camel forgives him. We too can be heroes in our friendships – by admitting when we are wrong and forgiving our friends when they make mistakes! The art for this story is by the talented Santi Salas.
In our latest Storyland tale, Old MacDonald Had a Farmer’s Market, Henny Penny is worried that the townsfolk will run out of food when Old MacDonald goes on holiday. However, when the town works together to start a market and sell what they make, they discover that we can accomplish heroic things when we work together! As usual, the wonderful Giorgia Broseghini captures the characters perfectly in her illustrations.
We often think of heroes as people who show off while doing great things (in movies or in real life), but sometimes someone can be a hero just by being quiet! This month’s poem, The Secret, is about how you can be a hero by keeping quiet… but we’ve revealed too much already. What we can say is that the art by Eleonora de Pieri is just lovely!
What do you think makes a hero, and who are the heroes in your life? Tell us in the comments.
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