Contests

New Story Contest: Wintry Tale

’Tis winter, and the cold wind doth blow. But it can be fun to frolic in the ice and snow. So, bundle up! For our January contest, everybuggy would love to read your best wintry tale.

Maybe you’ll write about spending an unexpected snow day off from school with friends, sledding down the steepest hill in town, or starting a snowball fight that ends with everyone doubled over with laughter. Your story might focus on a winter sport, such as skiing, or snowshoeing, or a figure skating competition—you could even imagine playing a familiar sport in a funny new way, like broom hockey or ice baseball. Perhaps you’ll tell an inspirational story about how people in a town come together to help each other recover from a winter storm. Or you might spin a dramatic tale of survival, about a pioneer family struggling through winter on the prairie, or about a person or animal facing a dangerous situation, like being lost in the snow, or caught on treacherous ice, or barely escaping an avalanche.

Whether you write about shoveling an elderly neighbor’s sidewalk, creating a snowbug ice sculpture, or being rescued by a Saint Bernard, everybuggy will be skating on thin ice while they wait for your best wintry tale—of 350 words or less, please—to drift into the Cricket Country mailbox. Mush!

  • (Show Rules)
    Here are the only rules: (Hide Rules)

    1. Your contest entry must be your very own original work. Ideas and words should not be copied.

    2. Your entry must be signed by your parent or guardian, stating that it is your own work, that no help was given, and that Cricket has permission to publish it in the magazine and on our website. 

    3. Be sure to include your name, age, and full address on your entry.

    4. Only one entry per person, please.

    5. If you want your work returned, enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope for each entry.

    6. Your entry must be received by January 25, 2022.

    7. Send entries to Cricket League, P.O. Box 300, Peru, IL 61354. (No faxes or email submissions, please!)

    8. We will publish winning entries in the April 2022 issue and on the Cricket website.