A fairy tale from a child's heart

Do you know how to come up with and write works that we call fairy tales?

For six years, I have been curating the children's literary competition of the Novosibirsk State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company called "Siberian Fairy Tales". I have read thousands of children's fairy tales, heard a lot of advice from experienced storytelling writers on how to be inspired and create magical works. And then suddenly I imagined that I had been asked to write a fairy tale... And how to write a magical work that will touch the hearts? How to come up with a hero? I thought about it. To answer this question for myself, I turned to the fairy tales of the children who became winners of the Siberian Fairy Tales competition in the past 2023.
What are they about? How did you touch the jury and become the best?

The images of the characters around whom the fairy-tale world grows up would seem simple. In the fairy tale of fifteen-year-old Maria Ermakova from the Sverdlovsk region, this is an old forester, in the work of thirteen-year-old Milana Roldugina from Lipetsk - a first-grade schoolboy, in the magical story of Alexandra Samsonova from Chita - a village girl.

And what are the fairy tales themselves about?

Maria Ermakova's work entitled "Mary's Root" is a story about how an old forester living in the Siberian taiga decided one day to find out the mysterious secret of his cat. Sneaking behind him into the depths of the taiga, he saw Mother Siberia in the form of a young beauty and a wonderful flower, the heart of the taiga - Mary's root. This root, as it turned out, can restore youth or give the opportunity to heal people. Mother Siberia suggested that the forester make a difficult choice. What decision will he make? Will he become eternally young and carefree, or will he decide to practice medicine, but will he live how long? He does not hesitate to choose the path of helping people.
How exactly did the story come about?
It turns out that the fairy tale echoes Maria's life discoveries, with her dreams. The girl is inquisitive by nature. And often asking others the question "What period in life do they consider the best, the happiest?", the answer was "Childhood, youth".
Masha herself, for a long time dreamed of becoming a doctor. And today he is already seriously thinking about journalism.
Reflections on youth, happiness and the difficult choice of the path to adulthood are reflected in Maria's work.

The magical story of Milana Roldugina is called "Sasha is a first-grader and a Checkmark is a helper."
In it, Sasha, a first-grader, cannot get used to school loads in any way and returns from school every day with tears in his eyes. At this moment, a Little Helper appears in his life, she gives the baby simple tips on how to cope with difficulties.
This tale is about the inner struggle of a schoolboy and the search for motivation, at a time when he is embarking on a new path for himself - the path of knowledge.
It feels like the author himself went through all these difficulties, the experiences of the main character are so emotionally conveyed.
Today, Milana not only successfully studies at school, but also invents, engages in programming, is fond of geology, and becomes the winner of various national and international competitions. And it seems that she found the very motivation, imbued with the pleasure of gaining knowledge.
I'm sure she definitely has her own secret little help.

And the fairy tale of little Alexandra Samsonova "Bagulova plate" is about separation and love.
Friends Manya and Vanya lived in the same village and loved to spend time together. One day, Vanya, as a very smart boy, was sent to study at a Moscow secret school where you can't talk on the phone. Manya found a way out. She made two plates out of clay, imprinted on them the flowers of the purple rose and bewitched the witch. They used these plates to communicate, until one evil girl in that secret school ruined Vanya's plate. The boy, without contact with his loved ones, gradually forgot about his relatives and his best friend.
And yet, the memory of love turned out to be stronger than oblivion. When he saw the flowers of the purple rose in the botanical garden, he began to remember his past. I brought three flowers home. Their fragrance helped to glue the cracks on the broken plate and Vanya remembered everyone.
And after graduating from school, he returned to his native village and built a city in its place.
The touching story is inspired by the author's experiences. Her talented brother went far from his family to the city of Novosibirsk to study at a physics and mathematics school.
The girl misses her brother, waits for meetings with him and believes that distances are not a hindrance to loving hearts.

After rereading all these works, I realized that in order for a fairy tale to touch the hearts of others, it must come from the heart itself.
So suddenly looking at these stories from the perspective of the creators, I realized the main thing - they are not all invented - lived by the authors. And the magic that makes everything possible in them is nothing but work, love, kindness and faith.

That's how it turns out to happen, simple life stories sometimes turn into a fairy tale. The amazing is next to us. The amazing thing about us.

Novosibirsk has been gathering children from all over Russia around a fabulous campfire for six years. It will be collected this year. Already in March, its sparks will light up. And the children will begin to share the creativity coming from the heart again.

P. S. The works of the finalists and winners of the Siberian Fairy Tales 2023 contest can be read on the official website of the Novosibirsk State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company in the section of the same name. There you will also find electronic versions of all collections of children's fairy tales from 2019 to 2022.