I invite you to join me in reading a fairy tale every day in July!
#fairytaleaday
What is Fairytale-a-Day?
I want to read a fairy tale every day! I’m challenging myself to keep up the habit for a full month, and I thought it would be fun to share.
You can consider it a challenge, a community, or just a hashtag to follow.
Where online is it happening?
I’m posting about my fairy tales on Instagram and Substack, and I encourage you to share with me and others on those platforms.
But you can take #fairytaleaday to whichever corner of the Internet you like to share!
What are the rules?
Don’t we have enough of those?
You can share photos, videos, or writing however often you like about however many fairy tales and folk stories you’ve read (or listened to) to whichever platforms you like. Use the #fairytaleaday hashtag to be found by others!
If you want a challenge, aim to post every day about the fairy tale you read that day.
(If lots of people join in this year, perhaps next year I can organize a proper challenge with a participants’ prize at the end!)
What is a fairy tale?
Here’s a specific definition from Sara Cleto of The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic:
“Fairy tale” is the popular, or lay, term for what folklorists often refer to as “International Wonder Tales” or “Märchen.” … In The Folktale (1946) Stith Thompson describes them as tales “involving a succession of motifs or episodes. [They move] in an unreal world without definite locality or definite creatures and [are] filled with the marvelous. In this never-never land, humble heroes kill adversaries, succeed to kingdoms and marry princesses” (Thompson 8). They generally involve some type of quest or search that the hero or heroine must undertake. … Fairy tales can be oral or literary, and tales often migrate between these seemingly separate incarnations. Fairy tales can be used to instruct or entertain, to caution and to inspire, to reinstate the status quo or to incite rebellion – they are an incredible versatile form that adapts to the needs and values of the teller and their culture.
TL;DR: Here’s a quick video I made about what is and is not a fairy tale. Though there are no #fairytaleaday referees to admonish you for reading a myth, legend, or fable instead of a fairy tale. All folk narratives welcome!
Resources
Read or listen to fairy tales for free!
University of Pittsburg: Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts
Some of these resources will link through to even more free online texts to read! Look for fairy tale books on your ebook or audiobook platform of choice; fairy tales are in the public domain, so anyone can publish them, and some old books may be free in ebook or audiobook form!