By Shelley Widhalm
There seems to be a national day for everything, so every day could be a holiday.
The National Day Calendar identified 1,500 national days, weeks and months, giving writers and bloggers plenty of topics for writing.
Pick a day, and automatically there is a subject.
Here are a few from the month of February that have to do with dogs and friendships, two subjects I favor.
National Days in February:
- 7: National Send a Card to a Friend Day
- 11: National Make a Friend Day
- 20: National Love Your Pet Day
- 23: National Dog Biscuit Day
Also on Feb. 26, it is National Tell a Fairy Tale Day, a perfect topic for conversationalists, storytellers and writers. The unofficial holiday encourages reading, telling and listening to fairy tales.
Fairy tales are a genre of children’s literature featuring fantastical and magical characters, such as fairies, elves, trolls and witches, and usually are told in short story format. They follow what once were oral histories, myths and legends told around the fire or by traveling storytellers.
Before the 17th century, fairy tales were mainly written for adults. Over time, they became a way to get children to behave or to teach them a lesson, but many would be considered too violent and inappropriate for current standards.
Today, using the term fairy tale refers to happy events and happenings, such as a fairy tale ending or fairy tale romance or weddings.
To celebrate fairy tales:
- Reread a favorite fairy tale or watch a movie based on one.
- Write a fairy tale with a fantastical or magical character, a lesson and a happy ending.
- When writing or telling a fairy tale, be sure to engage the audience and invite children to participate in some of the motions of the story.
- Use repetition, which is key to children’s stories to get them engaged and help them remember the story. The repetition prepares them for the next round of repeated phrases.
- Use different voices for each character to create drama for the character interactions and action of the story.
- Ask questions to retain attention and to offer opportunities to review the story and expand on the lessons and information there.
One Last Note:
Share your favorite fairy tales with family and friends or post, blog or send them your creations. Use #TellAFairyTaleDay to post on social media.