Young Writer Contests

Write fun animal stories! Win prizes!

~ A writing contest for young authors ~

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Taradiddle 2025 Contest Dates

Thursday, March 20 – Monday, March 24

Thursday, September 11 – Monday, September 15

Clues about the next contest’s featured animal arrive every Thursday in your email inbox two months before the contest begins. The writing prompt is released on a Thursday; stories are due on the following Monday. The sooner you are signed up to participate, the more clues you’ll receive!

Contest #7

March 24, 2025

The writing prompt was: As the low tide of the River Thames in London revealed more of its shore, Jasper, a magpie, positioned himself for a better vantage point. Soon, the shore will reveal treasures lost in time. A glint in the sunlight catches his eye!

Illustration by Longwen Shen, from Great Neck, NY, USA

the ABECEDARIANS (13 YEARS OR YOUNGER)

First Place: Pramit Saha from Snohomish, WA, USA

Second Place: Elina Zhang from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Third Place: Jonathan Li from Los Gatos, CA, USA

Honorable Mention: Natalya Bender

Honorable Mention: Olivia Guan from Downingtown, PA, USA

the doyens (14-18 years)

First Place: Avery Milton from New City, NY, USA

Second Place: Lila Choudry from Longwood, FL, USA

Third Place: Norah Chan from Calne, Wiltshire, England

Honorable Mention: Aaranya C R from India

Contest #8

September 15, 2025

Look for clues about the next animal starting in July!

Taradiddle 2024 Contests

Read the 2024 Stories!

Taradiddle 2022 Contests

Taradiddle 2023 Contests

Read the 2022 Stories!

Read the 2023 stories!

Meet the Taradiddle Judges!

Click on the button below to meet the Taradiddle Judges.

Guidelines:

• Entrants must be 18 years and younger.
• No cost to enter contests.
• Write original stories inspired by the Taradiddle animal-themed writing prompts.
• There are two age categories: Elementary Contests for ages 13 years and younger and High School Contests for ages 14-18 years. Enter under the age category you will be at the time of the contest to receive contest and prize information. If you are under the age of 13 years, your parent or guardian will need to sign you up with their email address. If you are 13 years and older, you can sign up with your email address. (Be sure to check your spam folder if you do not see emails from us!)
• The sooner you sign up, the more hints you will receive about the writing prompt for the next contest!
• Each contest starts on a Thursday and ends on the following Monday. When the contest starts, we will email you the writing prompt to get you started on your story. You will have by midnight (in your time zone) on the following Monday to submit your story inspired by the writing prompt. Submissions are made by emailing them to hello@guardianwhiskers.org. If email is not available, please mail your story to: Guardian Whiskers, 1004 East Washington Avenue, Madison, WI 53703, postmarked by Monday. Be sure to indicate your age category.
• Only one submission is allowed per person.
• The Elementary Contests have a maximum word count of 500 words. The High School Contests have a maximum word count of 1,000 words.
• Judges will determine the top three finalists in each age category.
• Entrants retain the copyright of their submitted work. However, entrants grant Guardian Whiskers the right to reproduce any submission on its website or any other Guardian Whiskers publication regardless of medium or publication.
• Guardian Whiskers asks for international rights. Should you re-publish the piece at a later date, we ask that you acknowledge in print that Guardian Whiskers published it first.
• Only original submissions will be accepted. We will not accept simultaneous submissions or work that has been published elsewhere.

Prizes:

1st Place: $150 / 2nd Place: $100 / 3rd Place: $50

The top three finalists in each age category will be featured as published authors on Taradiddle.org.