While some fairy tales, folktales, and fables tell enchanting stories, other tales were created to explain origins. These stories are “pourquoi tales”, and they explain why something exists in nature. Pourquoi (French for “why”) tales can be found around the world throughout various cultures. Author Elsie Spicer Eells collected several pourquoi tales from Brazil including How the Tiger Got His Stripes, Why the Sea Moans, and How Night Came. Nigerian fairy tales and folktales include the pourquoi tales Why the Bat Flies at Night and Why the Fish Lives in the Water while Australian folklore explained Where the Frost Comes From and How the Sun Was Made. Each of these tales is devoted to telling a fictional story of the how and the why of something in nature. Now it’s your turn to offer a take on the world with your own pourquoi story.
For this writing competition, we want you to create your own pourquoi story with an original fairy tale or folktale that explains a how and why behind a natural phenomena – from the stars to the appearance of animals.
This writing competition ran from Wednesday, August 28, 2019 to October 9, 2019. The winner was Srebrenka Peregrin with the tale Mother Death, a pourquoi tale about Death and why no one lives to the same age.
The finalists were the following stories:
How the Oysters Got Their Pearls
The Winner received:
- Active promotion across all Fairytalez’s social networks
- A digital winner badge published with your story and on your profile page
- A digital winner badge for your blog or website
- A $200 gift certificate to Amazon.com
The Four finalists received:
- Active promotion across all of Fairytalez’s social networks
- A digital runner-up badge published with your story and on your profile page
- A digital runner-up badge for your blog or website
How to Get Started with Fairytalez Writing Competitions
- Register: First, create a profile at Fairytalez.com. Don’t forget to customize it with images, website links and more. There are no fees associated with creating an account nor is there a fee to enter the competitions.
- Upload: Upload your story and put it in the appropriate category.
- Submit: Submit your story (or stories) below for consideration in the writing competition. Stories must be a minimum of 300 words and a maximum of 5000 words. You may submit up to 3 stories.
- Share: Share your story link with all of your friends and family! Stories are eligible once they’ve received 5 likes.
Find even more fairy tales when you read about our previous writing competitions.
Enter the Competition
Submit your story, once uploaded, here. Paste the story URL in the box below.
Our competition form is now closed.
Entries in Competition
- How the flowers became , Anila Syed
- How the Death-Head Hawk Moth Got it's Marking , Emma Ashley-King
- Why Mole Moved Underground , Lisbeth Ware
- Mother Death , Srebrenka Peregrin
- The Legend of the Dragon Fruit , Heroald Chern
- Why the Sun Hides Before a Storm , Amy DeMatt
- The Day That Absence Came , Yvette Naden
- How the Oysters got their Pearls , Anon Writer
- Why Humans Have No Tails , Izuchukwu Saviour Otubelu
- Why Fruits Have Seasons , Izuchukwu Saviour Otubelu
- The Root of the Problem , Leema Ahmed
- Why Giraffes Have Long Necks , Izuchukwu Saviour Otubelu
- Why Water and Fire No Longer Hold Hands , Michael Bray
- Holes in the World , andrew grell
- Fiery Rage , Lizzie Logemann
- Far Away Lights , Grace Moreton
- The First Black Cat of Halloween , Elaesa Jones
- Salty Tears , Bea Williams
- The first grown-ups... and their first children , Smruti Kulkarni Shanbhag
- The First Potato Bake , LeAnn Mathis
