Košice branch office of Society of friends of children from children's homes Smile as a gift organized Project Fairytale for children placed in children's homes and foster care. This unique project served to support Košice's candidacy for European Capital of Culture 2013. The project aims to kindle a flame of inspiration in children between ten to sixteen, to arose their interest in literature, and develop their natural creativity. To avoid unnecessary heaps of conventional limericks or pieces of plagiarism, we focused their attention on a literary genre of fairytale. A fairytale written by children themselves expands creative space wide and provides them with motivation to express their originality and independent thinking.

The project consists of several stages. In the first stage, the children are drawn into the process of creativity through an ingenious workshop, which is based on a short, acted, and motivational film shot for this specific purpose. A film character, young storyteller Martin, asks the children to help him find his lost fairytale by creating their own. Angel teams and volunteers from Smile as a gift can thus become messengers and bearers of this message during their visits in children's home and foster families.

Next stage will present the compilation of written fairytales and a selection of the most interesting pieces. Best young authors will subsequently meet in a winter literary camp with quality program and creative workshops led by exciting guests from the literature arena. Erik Jakub Groch, poet, storyteller and publisher, already confirmed to become our project partner and warrantor.

The biggest motivation for the children is however a fact that the finest fairytales would be compiled in an one-of-a-kind publication, an anthology of the written fairytales and their very own storybook at the same time.

Interestingly still, the project in its entirety and its memorable moments will also be captured in a documentary.

The story of a search for the lost fairytale has begun. Workshops will go on throughout autumn and the message of the young storyteller, to help in the search of the lost fairytale and write your own fairytales, will keep spreading around.