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National Tell a Fairy Tale Day

Fun · Family · February 26

A day for telling fairy tales out loud, from old favorites like Cinderella to new stories made up at the kitchen table.

National Tell a Fairy Tale Day falls on Friday, February 26, 2027. That is 122 days away.

Fairy tales are short stories full of wonder: talking animals, enchanted forests, clever youngest children and wishes that come with conditions. Many were passed along by voice long before anyone wrote them down, and this day invites people to tell one again.

The familiar ones follow patterns. Things come in threes. A warning is given and ignored. Someone kind gets rewarded, and someone greedy ends up in a barrel or a bramble patch. These patterns make the stories easy to remember, which is probably how they lasted through so many retellings. The brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm collected many German tales, and Hans Christian Andersen wrote his own, including The Little Mermaid.

Telling is different from reading. A teller can slow down at the spooky part, give the wolf a growly voice, or let a listener decide which door the hero opens. Children often notice when a detail changes and will say so firmly.

Families mark the day at bedtime, classrooms hold story circles, and libraries sometimes host readings. Some people retell a classic from the villain's side. Others invent a fresh tale about a dragon who is afraid of the dark.

The oldest versions are often stranger than the cartoon ones. In some early tellings of Cinderella, the stepsisters go to unusual lengths to fit into the shoe.

Ways to celebrate

• Tell a fairy tale from memory without opening a book.
• Retell a classic story from the villain's point of view.
• Invent a new tale together, each person adding one sentence.
• Look for a story time at your local library.
• Read an older version of a favorite tale and compare.

Dates

All national days on February 26

Also on February 26

• National Pistachio Day

Categories: Fun daysFamily days