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LET’S DISCUSS THE STORIES ~ IDEAS FOR TALKING WITH KIDS

Empathy, Boundaries

1. There is a saying that “one person’s junk is another’s treasure”. What do you think this means?

2. Do you think it was fair for Dara to tell Sam that he was collecting junk? Why or why not?

3. When Dara criticises Sam for doing something he loves, Sam says it is “fine with him”. Why do you think Sam was not upset about what Dara said?

4. Was he right not to be upset? Why or why not?

Bedtime Story written by Jon Keevy

Illustrated by Princess Kabeya

Designed by Jessica Janutsch

Edited by Kelly Norwood-Young

Music Video by “Funin and Sunin” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), “Townie Loop” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

* THE STORY ‘SAM’S TREASURES’ WAS CREATED BY BOOK DASH AND IS LICENSED UNDER A CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION 4.0 LICENSE. MINOR FORMATTING CHANGES MAY HAVE BEEN MADE TO THE ORIGINAL WORK FOR EASE OF READING ON OUR WEBSITE.

The post Sam’s Treasures first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

© Storyberries 2022

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LET’S CHAT ABOUT THE STORY ~ IDEAS FOR TALKING WITH KIDS

Independence, Courage, Independent Thinking, Empathy

1. When Princess Susie decides that she wants a baby brother, what does she do? What do you think this story might say about how to pursue the things we would really like?

2. Princess Susie enters the dark cave by herself. Do you think she was the right person to go inside the cave? Why or why not?

3. Why do you think the Tiger liked to be hugged by Susie?

Bedtime Story for Kids written by Templeton Moss

Illustrated by Nick Care

Book design by Jade Maitre

Music Video by “Midnight Tale” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), “Achaidh Cheide” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), “Still Pickin” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), “Moorland” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), “Angevin B” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), “Angevin” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), “Thatched Villagers” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), “Fiddles McGinty” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The post Princess Susie first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

Let’s Chat About The Stories ~ Ideas for Talking With Kids

Family, Conversation

1. In this story, Zi and Zu try to play quietly so as not to wake the baby. What other kinds of things do we sometimes do in a family, to help all the members in our family to be happy?

2. When was the last time you did something to help your family? How did it make you feel?

Bedtime Story written by Huynh Thi Kim Lien and translated by Alisha Berger

Bedtime story illustrated by Huynh Thi Kim Lien.

Other Credits:

* THE STORY ‘DON’T WAKE THE BABY’ WAS CREATED BY PRATHAM BOOKS AND IS LICENSED UNDER A CREATIVE COMMONS -BY-4.0 LICENSE. FORMATTING CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE TO THE ORIGINAL WORK FOR EASE OF READING ON OUR WEBSITE.

Don’t Wake the Baby! (English), translated by Alisha Berger, based on original story Suỵt! Em Bé Đang Ngủ (Vietnamese), written by Huynh Thi Kim Lien, illustrated by Huynh Thi Kim Lien, published by Room to Read (© Room to Read, 2015) under a CC BY 4.0 license on StoryWeaver. Read, create and translate stories for free on www.storyweaver.org.in

The post Don’t Wake The Baby! first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

© Storyberries / Andrea Kaczmarek 2021

Let’s Chat About the Story – Ideas for Talking With Kids

Conversation

1. Do you have a snowy winter where you live? What do you like to do best when it snows?

2. If you’ve never seen snow, what do you think would be your favourite thing to do, if it snowed?!

Short Story for Kids written by Andrea Kaczmarek

Illustrations by Jigisha Chanpura

About the Illustrator:

Music Video – We Wish you a Merry Christmas by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The post The Special Snowman first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

© Storyberries /Phoebe Coghlan 2021

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Let’s Chat About the Poem – Ideas for Talking With Kids

Trying, Diligence, Imagination

1. Have you ever wanted to do something that you thought was impossible? How did you try to do it?

2. Did you use your imagination, in trying to do that impossible thing? If so, how did imagination help you?

3. If you didn’t use imagination in trying to achieve your special task, how about you use it now? What are some ways that you could have achieved this thing you really wanted, which seemed impossible, by using your imagination?

Poem for Kids written by Phoebe Coghlan

Illustrated by Tanya Razumna

Music Video – “Frost Waltz” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

About the Writer

Phoebe is an Intensive care nurse working in a central London, Major Trauma hospital. After busy twelve hour shifts, she likes to sit down with a cup of tea and write whatever comes into her head. You can see all her wonderful stories and poems at Storyberries by clicking here.

The post Catch A Moon first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

Matthew and Jessica came rushing down the hallway and stopped just shy of the front door. They were filled with energy and excitement while they watched their parents walk towards them. Halloween had finally arrived and trick or treating was all that was on their mind. Once their front door was opened, they ran outside and disappeared.

Jessica wanted to be Red Riding Hood that year, so she dressed up as the character, complete with a red hood and a basket. She also carried around her Scooby Doo stuffed toy as a stand-in for the big bad wolf. Meanwhile, Matthew dressed up as the fastest man alive. The Flash had been one of his favorites ever since he saw the Justice League cartoon on television.

The roads in the neighborhood were filled with children in colorful costumes bringing baskets and plastic bags. There were older children as well. Most of them were chaperones for their little brothers and sisters. Jessica and Matthew even bumped into a few of their friends. They showed off their costumes and gave much deserved complements to one another.

As the evening progressed, Jessica and Matthew visited more and more houses until they reached the more deserted parts of their neighborhood. None of them had been able to walk that far from their house the night before. While they were strolling, Jessica saw something that made her stop abruptly. The sweet delicacies rustled inside when the basket shook at the sudden halt in motion. She grabbed Matthew by the arm to get his attention. When she had his attention, she pointed to a house that seemed empty and said,

“Was there always a house here?”

Matthew saw the house and began to question whether or not he had seen the house before. They passed by that street on their way to school, so surely he would’ve noticed. But that night, he wasn’t sure if it was.

The house in front of them looked old and time-weary. Instead of clean cut grass, weeds had sprouted in its place. The lack of light inside made it seem like the house was empty. Both of them felt curious but equally scared. They both shared a look which telegraphed that they thought of the same thing, without saying a word. They gave each other a nod and approached the house together.

The wooden floors creaked as they stepped onto the front porch. The door was full of cobwebs and Matthew had to pull some away from the doorknob. He turned the knob and found that it was unlocked. The door creaked as it slowly opened. Before they could enter the house, something appeared in front of them and said “Hello”.

They immediately ran away from the house screaming!

They both stopped when they were far enough from their house to catch their breath. Jessica felt her heart beat so fast, she thought it would leap out of her chest. Matthew looked at his little sister and asked her if she was okay. She nodded and told him that they needed to go home. He noticed something was missing and asked Jessica where Scooby was. Jessica gasped in horror when she realized that she had dropped Scooby back at the creepy old house. Both of them knew that they were going to have to go back there and get it.

They tiptoed their way across the front lawn, making sure they weren’t making any noise that would alert whoever was inside the house. They looked around the front porch for the toy but were unable to find it. Then someone behind them said,

“Are you looking for this?”

They turned around and were left speechless when they saw him. He was a small boy. He wore a plaid shirt and pants with suspenders. He appeared normal, except that he had a pumpkin for a head.

Matthew grabbed the chair on the front porch and was ready to use it as a weapon, while Jessica hid behind her older brother. 

“G-Give us Scooby back or I’ll hit you with this chair. I’m not kidding,” he said shakily. Despite the clear conviction in his threat, it did nothing to hide his fear.

“No-No. I mean you no harm. Here, I’ll give you your toy back,” the boy said. He had his arms stretched out in front just to assure them that he truly meant no harm. He walked closer to them and left the toy on the steps of the porch.

The pumpkin-headed boy backed away slowly. Matthew took that chance and picked up Scooby from the steps. He handed it to Jessica, which she hugged tightly, and then lifted the chair again for protection.

Now that they had Scooby back, Matthew and Jessica were ready to leave. They slowly moved forward with Matthew still holding the chair for protection. He stopped just as he was about to reach the sidewalk. He wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, but curiosity had a hold of him and he couldn’t help but ask.

“What’s wrong with your head?” he asked.

The pumpkin-headed boy looked at him, puzzled, as if he had failed to understand the question.

There was a moment of silence before Matthew said,

“Why is your head a pumpkin?”

“Oh yes. I guess my head is a bit strange to some. Why don’t you come inside and I’ll tell you all about it. We can have some cookies and some chocolate milk,” the boy said. He casually walked to the door. He looked back and said “My name is Carlson, by the way.”

Matthew wanted to ignore his invitation but Jessica also had the same curiosity he had. She was already making her way to the door. Matthew tried to call her back but it was too late. He sighed and followed her inside.

The house, despite how it looked outside, was surprisingly clean on the inside. The lights illuminated the cozy living room. They sat on the couch, which was soft and comfortable. It had a fireplace, which kept the room warm.

Carlson, who disappeared into the kitchen, reappeared with a tray filled with a plate of cookies and two glasses of chocolate milk. He placed the tray on the table in front of Jessica and Matthew. He told them to eat as much as they wanted.

While Jessica and Matthew ate, Carlson began the interesting story of how he came to be.

Carlson had been brought to life by the wishes of a boy name Jack. He and his family lived in the house they were currently in a long time ago. Jack had no friends and was lonely. On Halloween night, he wanted to go trick or treating but had no-one to go with. So he took a pumpkin which was supposed to be made into a Jack o’ Lantern and made a wish to the stars above. The stars heard his plea and brought to life a boy with a pumpkin head, who he named Carlson.

Both of them had fun trick-or-treating that night. Carlson had so much fun with Jack that he made Halloween his favorite day. However, the next morning when he woke up, Jack and his parents were gone, and the house was completely empty. Carlson had been waiting for Jack to come back ever since.

Matthew and Jessica felt sorry for Carlson. Matthew especially felt bad for threatening to hit Carlson with a chair. He wasn’t a scary threat. He was just sad and lonely.

Carlson saw the gloomy look they both had on their faces and decided that wasn’t in tune with the Halloween spirit. He got up off his seat and made his way to the radio. “Why don’t we have some fun on Halloween?” he said.

Carlson turned on the radio and started dancing. He urged Jessica and Matthew to join him. They were hesitant at first, but seeing Carlson dance made it seem fun. So they got up and joined in. They danced until they couldn’t dance anymore.

Time went by quickly, and much to Jessica and Matthew’s disappointment, it was already getting late and they had to go home. Their parents might worry about them if they stayed out too late. Carlson saw them out the door and they said their goodbyes. Before they left, they shared some of their candy with Carlson, which he graciously accepted. They waved Carlson goodbye one last time before finally making their way back home.

The next morning, Jessica and Matthew came back to Carlson’s house. They knocked on the door but no one came to answer. They called out to Carlson but he still wasn’t there. They tried turning the doorknob and found that it was open. They entered the house and found a lone pumpkin on the table. On top of it was a note. Matthew picked up the note. On the note, the words “Until next Halloween!” were written on it.

Jessica and Matthew left the house feeling sad that they didn’t get to see Carlson again. They kept Carlson’s note and treated it as a promise. They came home that day looking forward to next Halloween, when they could spend another night with Carlson, the living pumpkin.

© Storyberries/ Glenn Francis Faelnar 2021

Short bedtime story written by Glenn Francis F. Faelnar

LET’S CHAT ABOUT THE STORY ~ IDEAS FOR TALKING WITH KIDS

Empathy

1. Were Jessica and Matthew right to run away screaming when they first saw Carlson? Why or why not? What do you think you would have done?

2. How do you think it feels to be Carlson, a boy with a pumpkin head? Can you imagine some things that would be difficult for him?

3. What do you think would be some good things about being Carlson?  

The post A Night With A Living Pumpkin first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

LET’S DISCUSS THE STORIES ~ IDEAS FOR TALKING WITH KIDS

Empathy, Conversation

1. Dad tells Lwando that ‘you can only tame monsters by making them feel safe’. Why do you think that is?

2. What kinds of things can turn you into a ‘monster’?

Bedtime Story written by Sam Beckbessinger

Illustrated by Anja Venter

Designed by Wilna Combrinck

Edited by Carla Lever

Music Video from zapsplat.com

* THE STORY ‘HOW TO TAME A MONSTER’ WAS CREATED BY BOOK DASH AND IS LICENSED UNDER A CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION 4.0 LICENSE. MINOR FORMATTING CHANGES MAY HAVE BEEN MADE TO THE ORIGINAL WORK FOR EASE OF READING ON OUR WEBSITE.

The post How To Tame A Monster first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

© Benjamin Wilkins 2020

Short Story for Kids written and illustrated by Benjamin Wilkins

Bedtime, Conversation

1. Do you have something like a soft and cuddly dragon that helps you get to sleep? Why do you think soft and cuddly things can help us sleep?

2. What is something that always helps you sleep?

The post Good Night, Sleep Tight, Don’t Let The Dragons Bite first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

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Bedtime Story written by Corinne Lamoral Rosmarin

Illustrated by Jess Jardim-Wedepohl

Designed by Ashlyn Atkinson

Edited by Margot Bertelsmann

* THE STORY ‘THE GREAT TIDY UP!’ WAS CREATED BY BOOK DASH AND IS LICENSED UNDER A CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION 4.0 LICENSE. MINOR FORMATTING CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE TO THE ORIGINAL WORK FOR EASE OF READING ON OUR WEBSITE.

LET’S DISCUSS THE STORIES ~ IDEAS FOR TALKING WITH KIDS

Helping

1. The children in this story try their best to help tidy up. Do they succeed? Do you think it matters? What do you think is more important: that they succeeded in tidying up, or that they tried their best?

2. Do you think Gogo agrees with you? Why?

3. Why do you think it might be good to help around the house?

The post The Great Tidy Up first appeared on Bedtime Stories.