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

Self-Confidence

1. When Winifred loses her memory, her friend Brian the Bat helps remind her of some of her witchy deeds. Fred is not very impressed about the things she did as a witch. Do you think she was right to feel this way? Why or why not?

2. At the end of the story, Winifred decides she’d prefer a different job. What did she do after she made this decision? Do you think she did the right thing? Why or why not?

Bedtime Story written by Templeton Moss

Illustrated by Tatiana Ross

Music Video by “March of the Spoons” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), “Run Amok” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), “Music to Delight” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), “Call to Adventure” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), “Meanwhile in Bavaria” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), “Enchanted Valley” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The post The Witch’s Scrapbook first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

© Storyberries 2023

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

Self-Confidence

1. Kathy loves sheep herding and does not want to be a Princess. Why do you think people might want to be a Princess? Why might they not want to be a Princess?

2. Kathy makes the right decision for her. How can you tell, from reading the book, that she made the right decision?

Beauty

1. Do you think Princesses have to be “beautiful”? What does “beautiful” mean, in this story?

2. At the end of the story, all the girls and women in the kingdom are given Princess crowns. Do you think this means that all the girls and women were “beautiful”? How?

Bedtime Story for Kids written by Templeton Moss

Illustrated by Karina Shuba

Book design by Jade Maitre

Music Video by “Suonatore di Liuto” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), ”Village Consort” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) “Master of the Feast” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), ”Bushwick Tarantella” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), “Royal Coupling” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The post The Princess Who Wasn’t 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.

© Storyberries 2022

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

Love

1. Why do you think the Rose preferred to be a daisy than to leave the Bee she loved?

2. The story shows how the Rose preferred to be happy. How does loving and being loved feel? Do you think it always makes us happy? How?

2. What does Love feel like to you?

Bedtime Story for Kids written by Templeton Moss

Illustrated by Poornima Dolamullage

Book design by Jade Maitre

Music video by “Almost New” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), “Angel Share” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), “Fireflies and Stardust” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), “Arcadia” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), “Midsummer Sky” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The post The Bee and the Rose first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

The post Important Things Everyone Should Know first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

SPRING SONG

Too warm for coats.

Too cold for shorts.

The sun is out

Without much force.

Been raining

Off-and-on all day.

Spring is here at last…

Hooray?

SUMMER SONG

For Summer Vacation, you might take a trip

And have fun you’ll always remember.

To travel the world is a wonderful thing,

But I’d rather sleep till September.

FALL SONG

This time of year makes me cry “goody!”

Because I get to wear my hoody.

It’s much too big—a 2-X-L.

But, me? I think that’s just as well.

I pull the drawstring and—tee hee!—

No one even knows it’s me!

WINTER SONG

Christmas is a magical and wondrous time of year,

And snow just makes the season more sublime.

But when the big day’s over, all the ice and snow’s still here!

And then I just can’t wait until springtime!

© Templeton Moss 2020

Poem for Kids written by Templeton Moss

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

Conversation

1. What is your favourite time of year? Why?

The post Four Seasons first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

Dave and his candy bar had wandered off from the group in order to be alone for a bit. They found a secluded part of the park and Dave sat down on the grass, holding the candy bar gently but firmly in his left hand. It was sort of an open area, surrounded by trees, slightly rounded and maybe twenty feet in diameter…although, being only six years old, Dave probably didn’t know what a diameter was.

The candy bar certainly didn’t know.

Had you been in the clearing with him that day…well, first of all, you’d see something really weird happen in a minute…but you’d also probably think that Dave was a pretty typical kid. Certainly he didn’t look all that unusual, and might easily have blended in with a crowd of quiet children. But it wouldn’t last because, sooner or later, the other kids would get a bit rambunctious and want to run and play and make a lot of noise…but not Dave. Dave hardly ever spoke, didn’t like to run around and make noise, and usually preferred to sit quietly on his own. Not that he didn’t like the other kids or anything, he just liked sitting quietly and reading a book or watching a video, or, in this case, eating a candy bar. The other kids liked Dave all right, but some of them were put off by his gentle, quiet ways.

In a world that can’t ever seem to shut up, quiet people are often viewed with suspicion.

Thus isolated, Dave proceeded to carefully unwrap the candy bar and was about to take the first bite, when he saw lights above his head. He looked up and was understandably surprised to see a spaceship descending from the sky. He watched in amazement as the spaceship settled down only a few feet from where he was seated.

After the ship—which looked just like you are probably imagining; round, disc-like with mechanical legs that unfolded upon landing—lit on the grass with surprising grace, a door slid open on one side and a ramp descended. There appeared a creature which could only be described as a space alien. Tall, green, with six long fingers on each hand (making for a total of twenty-four fingers overall), big black eyes and legs which looked more like tentacles. It was wearing a blue outfit and seemed, to Dave at least, to be smiling in a friendly manner.

This creature walked (more like slithered) up to Dave and, when it spoke, did so in a surprisingly friendly voice:

“Greetings, Earth Human. My name is Gygar and I am from the planet Ramzok many, many lightyears from here. My people and I have been observing this planet for one thousand geldars, or slightly less than ninety-two of your Earth years. And, frankly, we have not been happy with what we have seen. Half of you are starving, while the other half is obese. Ninety-nine percent of you work like dogs to maintain the lifestyle of the one percent who have all the money. You go to war with people who have a slightly different interpretation of books written eons before any of you were ever even born. And the less said about what you watch on television, the better. We have therefore decided that, for the good of the universe, your planet will be destroyed.

“We are not, however, without mercy, which is why I have come here today: To offer your species one last chance to redeem yourselves. We selected you at random out of all six and a half billion humans on this planet to be an envoy for all mankind. If you can give me one good reason not to blow up the Earth, I will not. So, human, for the sake of all life on this planet, I ask you: why should the Earth be spared?”

For a moment, Dave said nothing. It was a lot to take in after all. Suddenly the weight of the world was resting on his six-year-old shoulders and he wasn’t sure he was up to it. In fact, he thought seriously about just crying and running away, which is normally a good idea when you’re facing something scary, but Dave figured that would probably count as a forfeit and Gygar would blow up the Earth. So, scrabbling around for an idea, he looked down at his hands. That’s when a thought occurred to him and he extended his left arm.

Confused, Gygar opened one of his right hands and allowed the small human to place something brown and half-covered by a plastic wrapper in his green palm. He had never seen anything like it before, so he wasn’t sure what it was. He looked at it carefully, then looked down at Dave. Dave mimed eating, explaining to the alien what he was supposed to do with the candy bar. Gygar shrugged and bit into the chocolate…

And his eyes, already large, grew wide. And his smile broadened. He licked his lips and took another bite…and another…and another…

“This is the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted!” cried Gygar. “What do you call it? Oh, wait, it says here on the wrapper…‘Cho-Co-Late?’” He pronounced the ‘O’s and the ‘A’ wrong, but it was close enough and Dave nodded. “And you say you make this here on Earth?” Dave nodded. “Well! I think we’d better just take another look at this whole situation. Thank you, Small Human. Oh, here,” he added, holding what was left of the candy bar out to Dave. But Dave shook his head. “You mean I can have it?” Dave nodded. “Wow! Thanks!” With that, Gygar turned around, got back into his spaceship and took off into the sky.

It was about this time that Dave was found by his teacher and returned to the group. He had no way of knowing that after their conversation, Gygar had accessed his ship’s vast database of information and learned that chocolate needs to be grown a very particular climate and that, of all the planets in civilized space, only Earth had the necessary conditions to produce the delicious crop.

And that’s how this quiet little boy saved the entire world and introduced chocolate to the other end of the galaxy. Next time you see him, say thanks.

© Templeton Moss 2020

Bedtime Story written by Templeton Moss

Illustration created with elements by Pixabay, with thanks.

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

Conversation

1. If a space alien came down to planet Earth and asked you the same thing that they asked Dave in this story, what would you say?

The post Why Space Aliens Haven’t Destroyed The Planet Yet first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

As we all know, elephants never forget. Yes, an elephant’s memory is a thing remarkable. Like a steel trap from which nothing can escape. It is for this reason that one should be very careful when borrowing money from an elephant. It doesn’t matter how many years go by, he’ll never forget so you might as well cough up right away cuz, let me tell you that is not a visit you ever want to get, especially when you have some people over and…

I digress.

The point is that elephants have great memories…except for Peter. Peter, for whatever reason, had the worst memory of any elephant in history. He couldn’t remember anything. He couldn’t remember where he left his things, what he had said to his friends, or whether it was Bill Paxton or Jeff Daniels in that one movie.

But worst of all is he forgot when he made plans with people. Anyone who knew Peter well had, on more than one occasion, known him to show up very late with some pathetic apology or excuse. Most elephants were annoyed by Peter’s chronic lateness (that’s if he remembered to show up at all), but they had come to accept it about him.

But not Susie.

Susie was Peter’s girlfriend and she was getting good and fed up with him standing her up all the time. He didn’t mean to, of course, he simply forgot things, but just the same it was beginning to make Susie feel like she didn’t matter to him at all when nothing could be further from the truth. Finally, after he had missed three dinner dates in a row, she gave it to him straight.

“Tomorrow night is our anniversary. If you aren’t right on time for dinner…we’re through!”

Poor Peter didn’t want to forget this time, so before he went to bed he tied a big red ribbon around his trunk so that when he woke up the next morning he would see it in the mirror and it would remind him of his date.

But Peter’s memory was so bad that when he woke up the next morning and looked at himself in the mirror he saw the ribbon and knew that it was there to remind him of something…but, true to form, he couldn’t remember what! Now Peter was panicking because he knew whatever it was he had forgotten this time must be something very important, if he had tied that ribbon on to remind him. So he spent the rest of his day going around to all the places he usually hung out and calling on all the friends he had ever made plans with and asked them if they knew what he was supposed to remember about today. But they all shook their heads and said they had no idea.

Well, the day passed quickly and Peter was beginning to panic. Then he had an idea. “Susie!” he said. “She’s the smartest elephant I ever met. She’s bound to know what I was supposed to remember today.” So he ran straight to see Susie and before he could ask her what he had forgotten, she turned to him and her face lit up.

“You remembered!” Susie cried and she gave Peter the biggest kiss of his elephant life.

So Peter and Susie had a lovely anniversary dinner…though Peter never did remember what that whole ribbon thing was about.

© Templeton Moss 2020

Short bedtime story written by Templeton Moss

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

Honesty, Empathy, Love

1. Do you think it was okay for Peter to pretend he remembered his anniversary with Susie? Why or why not?

2. Do you know what an anniversary is? Why do you think Susie really wanted Peter to remember their anniversary?

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The post The Forgetful Elephant first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

But one day, Luke noticed something that got him sort of worried. Whenever he looked through his books of animals or went to the zoo or learned about animals in school, there was one kind of animal no one ever mentioned. One animal that he’d never seen so much as a photograph of:

A unicorn!

Luke was worried. Why wasn’t the unicorn in any of these books? Why did his teacher never mention unicorns? Why, when he asked the zookeeper which way to the unicorns, did she just look at him all mean and walk away, muttering under her breath about “smart aleck kids?”

When he asked his dad about it, his dad said that it was because there weren’t any unicorns. That they were just made up. But that didn’t make any sense to Luke. With all the amazing animals in the world, why would someone make one up? It just seemed silly. Besides, if you were gonna make up an animal, why make up something as simple as “a horse with a horn?” Nope. It didn’t add up.

Now, in Luke’s whole, entire life (and that’s a whole six years) he had never asked his dad a question he couldn’t answer, because Luke had one of those smart-type dads. So if his dad didn’t know, he reasoned that probably nobody knew about unicorns. So, he decided it was up to him to solve this mystery.

Luke’s Grammy and Pop-Pop lived on a farm and Luke would visit them sometimes. He was particularly looking forward to it this time, because he had some investigating to do. As soon as he arrived, he began interrogating all the animals to find out what they knew about unicorns. None of them told him anything, which didn’t really surprise Luke, since they were animals. It was about this point that he began to feel he hadn’t thought this plan through very well.

But, c’mon. He’s only six!

“Why were you talking to those pigs earlier?” asked Luke’s Pop-Pop that evening.

“I wanted to find out if they knew anything about unicorns.”

“Unicorns, eh?” Luke told Pop-Pop all about his investigation. Pop-Pop was one of those neat old people who likes to play games and go on adventures, so he said, “I’ve got an idea how we can bust this case wide open!” So he took Luke into his home office and they went onto the internet and searched for “unicorn.”

According to the information Pop-Pop found on the web, unicorns were first written about in Greece before being mentioned throughout Europe and Asia. They appear in Arthurian legend and even in the Bible. Though the creature changes in appearance depending on the culture, his basic shape is always the same: A horse, or horse-like beast with at least one long, pointy horn on his forehead. Even the British Royal Family uses a unicorn on its family crest. But, fascinating though all this was, it didn’t tell Luke why he couldn’t find any unicorns!

By bedtime, Luke had learned a lot about the mythology of unicorns, but nothing to help him find a real one. He was very disappointed as Grammy tucked him in. He was beginning to think unicorns really were made up as he closed his eyes and fell asleep…

“Luke? Oh Luke? Are you awake?”

Luke opened his eyes and there, standing next to his bed, was a unicorn! With fur so white it seemed to glow. It had a long, shiny tail with a tuft at the end, like a lion’s, a little beard on its chin like a goat’s, eyes that twinkled and, of course, a shimmering golden horn in its forehead.

“I hear you’ve been looking for me,” said the unicorn.

“I thought you were pretend!” said Luke in an awestruck whisper.

“Oh, no, not at all. The truth, Luke, is that we unicorns prefer to be left alone. So, when the Ancient Greeks discovered us and started telling the world about us, we tried to leave and find another secret place to live. But everywhere we went, people had heard of unicorns and were hunting us. We ran through Europe, India, China, all across the world just trying to find someplace where we could be by ourselves.”

“But why do you want to be alone?”

“It’s just our way, Luke. Everyone is different and likes different things. Some animals, like humans, like to mix with lots of different animals. Some, like we unicorns, prefer a quiet, peaceful life of solitary reflection among our own people. Do you understand?”

“I think so.”

“Anyway, after all these centuries, we finally found a place where we can live safely and peacefully, without being disturbed by humans or another animal.”

“Where?”

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you. It’s been a secret all these years, and I can’t tell anyone for fear of it getting out.”

Luke begged and pleaded with the unicorn to tell and even made the biggest promise in the world, saying he’d never tell any man, woman, child or animal ever as long as he lived.

“Very well, then,” said the unicorn and he leaned in and whispered into Luke’s ear.

“Ohhh!” said Luke. In hindsight, it made perfect sense.

“But you must never try to find us, Luke. You must respect our wishes and leave us alone. You promise?”

“Cross my heart. Thank you for coming to see me, Mr. Unicorn. I feel better now that I know you guys are okay.”

“Thank you, Luke. For caring so much about us. Now you had better get back to sleep, and I had better get home. Good night, my friend.” And Luke closed his eyes and fell back to sleep.

Luke kept his promise, and never told anyone about the unicorns as long as he lived. And even though he now knew exactly where to find them, he never tried to go there and see for himself. He was the only human being in a hundred years to see a real-live unicorn, and that was enough for him. And even when he grew to be very, very old, he remembered his promise to the unicorns.

Which is why they are safe to this day in their secret hiding place in—ah! Sorry. No telling!

© Templeton Moss 2020

Bedtime story written by Templeton Moss

Illustration by Templeton Moss

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

Creativity

1. Where do you think unicorns hide? Why would this be the best hiding place for them?

The post The Missing Unicorn first appeared on Bedtime Stories.