Feels like it's been a bit since our last one. I planned to do at least one other before we did this one, but I slacked off. My interest got a bit low for awhile but now I'm ready to present this. Also, I wanted to get this one before Poparena got to it lol. Oh boy, we've got an interesting case. Legend of the Lost Legend is a story that seems like it's impossible to fix. It has these kids ending up in a nonsensical fantasy forest where a lot of it is just random. Unlike other random books, there isn't really anything to latch onto. Outside of the fantasy premise, there's not much to latch onto to then create a re-write from. So I'd usually pass it up.
However, I love a good challenge so I've been stewing on what to do with this one. Then it finally hit me and I think I got something. Here's the thing with this book: The adventure Ivanka sends the kids on ends up being a test to see if they deserve to get the lost legend/eternal egg of truth. They passed it by proving what in the forest was real and what wasn't. This whole test thing was done in Camp Nightmare but there it actually has a bigger purpose for the story, teaching Billy the right and wrong times to follow rules and whanot. This however, doesn't really teach the kids anything and is just kind of random. That's what gave me an idea: We need to make the test mean something and actually teach the kids some sort of lesson.
Plus, for a Fantasy Forest, the things in it aren't exactly what you think of when you hear fantasy. Credit for originality I guess but it would have been fun to see unique takes on classic creatures. My idea addresses that, but the thing, I got it from the Spooksville book The Little People/Pan's Realm, and honestly that's the good version of Legend, since it also takes place mostly in a forest full of wild fantasy creatures. But anyway, my idea is rough and needs work but it's a good framework, I think.
Anyway: Justin and Marisa are step siblings now, and just became such recently. Justin is the popular jock type but on the inside he's rather nice, but people, including Marisa just assume he acts like a typical meathead. So she hasn't given him much of a chance. She's already the shy type, being the nerdy one so tat wasn't helping. They haven't gotten along too well, and both tend to shut down attempts to get closer. Dad notices this and takes them on a camping trip to get out there and bond closer. You could still do what the book does with him being a story collector out in Generic European Country but this fits our premise better. Now they are out in a forest closer to their town, but it's one most people are warned to stay away from as people tend to get lost, with there along being that legend about a lost legend no one knows the contents of.
Things can go the same from here, they follow Silverdog and meet Ivanka who tells them she knows what they are looking for. The next morning, they set on their adventure but before then they must pick a guide to take them where the legend is. Their choices are a pretty fair and an ugly ogre. They pick the former since, well duh, fairies are typically good after all. She takes through the place and they face various monster, most of them being evil takes on classic creatures.
Don't feel like detailing examples, just imagine for yourself. The recurring thing is the evil ones seem nice while monsters that seem like typical monsters tend up being nicer and help them out. Although they end up having to use their own smarts as the fairy isn't super useful. You get what I'm building at this point but bear with me. So yeah, yeah turns out the fairy is indeed evil and has been leading them astray the whole time and in the wrong directions. Along the way, the siblings find moments to prove to the other that they are more than they seem.
Justin comes up with some smart plans and Marisa shows off some strength at points although she mostly proves her nerdy smarts come in handy. They bond through all this. Eventually they take care of the fairy through...means, and are able to find the right path. They find the chest supposedly containing the legend and are teleported back to Ivanka, where Dad is too. He discovered the kids were missing and found his way to Ivanka who told him the kids were off on a quest. With it done, they've learned o not judge people based off appearance and all that, and have discovered that Justin ain't so bad and yada yada.
They open the chest and it still contains an egg like in the book. But here it turns out to be called the egg of truth because it can answer any question you have, it knows the truth to all. So to make up for the confusion, they get to keep the egg and they ask it where the legend. Using hot and cold, they find this group of people and the book's ending happens as it is since I think it's fitting enough.
As I said, it is rough, and very on the nose about an obvious moral. However, it's at least something. The test actually teaches them a lesson and they grow from the experience. It gives the story a purpose and what I suggested makes it feel like a story and not just a series of random things going on. I think someone more talented than I can make this stronger and perhaps have a more interesting moral but as it is, I like what we have.
There, managed to at least try to fix a seemingly unfixable story. That's somewhat impressive, I think. And that's all I got. The idea well is getting dry so I doubt there will be too much more of these, but we'll see what happens. Still have an idea or two here and there so we'll see. As for now, hope you enjoyed this and Happy Holidays!