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Bedtime stories for one year old


18 Soothing Bedtime Stories For Toddlers

Prepare your toddler for a good night’s sleep with these adorable and fascinating tales.

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Bedtime stories for toddlers are almost guaranteed to make your little ones fall asleep when they listen to them. These stories are mesmerizing and often take toddlers into a world of imagination and fantasy. The stories are full of fascinating characters, personalities, and even objects, leaving your child amazed.

Some toddlers may even participate in the reading if you read these stories often from a book. A bedtime story can calm your little one when they listen to it, which will eventually put them to sleep by making their eyes turn heavy.

We believe that you might have run out of stories at some point. Well, then we have got you covered. We have listed some of the best bedtime stories that you can tell your toddler to make them fall asleep hassle-free. Read on to know more.

Bible Bedtime Stories

1. Eve – The First Princess

From Princess Stories: Real Bible Stories of God’s Princesses

A long time ago, Eve was the first princess on the Earth. She was the first woman God created. Adam was the first man. God used Adam’s ribs to make Eve. They both lived in the Gardens of Eden that was a beautiful place. It was full of big trees, gentle rivers, beautiful flowers, butterflies, swans, horses, and many other animals. Life in the garden was great. God loved them so much and gave them everything they needed.

They just had to obey one rule. God asked them not to eat the fruits of the tree that is in the center of the garden. But the fruit looked delicious. The princess could not resist, so she plucked the fruit and took a big bite. It was sweet and juicy! She offered it to Adam too. But they felt guilty and tried to hide from God when he came to the garden that evening.

Well, God knows everything. He asked both of them to leave the garden for disobeying him. Even though God was sad that he had to punish them, he still loved Eve and Adam. They would always be his children.

Moral: Live a life that is likable by the God. Confess if you do something wrong and try not to repeat.

2. Sarah’s Story

From Princess Stories: Real Bible Stories of God’s Princesses

A long time ago, God made a promise to Abraham, Sarah’s husband. The promise was that Abraham would have a big family. This means Abraham would have lots of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. But, years passed without a single child. One day three men (messengers of God) came to their place and had dinner. While leaving, they said that soon a son would be born to them. A little later, Sarah and Abraham had a baby boy. They named him Issac. They were happy ever after, and prayed that ‘the Lord’s promise prove true’.

Moral: God keeps his promise, even if it is delayed. We have to be patient and keep our belief in him.

Did you know?

Along with moral values, the Bible even mentions some scientific concepts, such as gravity and the water cycle (1)

Princess Bedtime Stories

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3. Princess Naomy – by Naomy Liseth Cerritos Palma

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Naomy. She worked hard as her stepmother and stepsisters used to make her do all the chores. Naomy wanted to go out on the day of the royal ball when the prince would choose a princess for the kingdom. She could not as she was ordered to wash clothes, clean utensils, and do many other chores.

She finished all the tasks but then didn’t have a nice dress to wear. While she was sitting sadly, a fairy godmother appeared and granted her three wishes. The girl wished for a beautiful dress, crystals heels, and an awesome chariot.

Hypnotized by the beauty, the prince invited her to dance with him. She danced and left as it was getting late in the night. The prince searched for her and finally found her. They both became friends and finally married.

4. Singing Princess – By Abby

Once a princess found a ring in her garden, which gave five stunning powers to her, which only she can enjoy. The five powers were: to sleep effortlessly, to make fire without flint, to make rain shower without clouds in the sky, to grow a crop she wanted, and to sing like an enchanted siren.

One day, a witch cast a spell all through the kingdom. The witch took away to sleep, fire, rain, crops, and songs from everyone in the kingdom. All this made the princess cry for the helpless people. She ran out to her balcony and kept singing for months together. She sang about good and evil, rain and fire, and so on. She has sung for a year. One day the princess slowly disintegrated into the wind, and the kingdom came back to its original state. She was never seen again but was just heard. Every year, good people of her kingdom held a celebration for her!

Related: Top 18 Bedtime Stories Parents Should Read To Their Toddler

Educational Stories

5. Oops I Wet My Pants – by Sigal Adler

It was a pleasant sunny day when the little boy went out to play with his friends. He needed to do pee pee but held it as he wanted to win the game he was playing. All of a sudden, his pants turned wet. He ran home to change the pants. It was then he heard a song. ‘The bathroom is the only place to pee…’

“If you feel you need to go even while you play, go straight to the bathroom without any delay.”

6. The Sisters

Two little sisters went into a room to play with a ball. The tall one slowly whispered, “We must be careful not to wake the cat.” The fat one whispered back, “We should not spoil the roses.” But they wanted to throw it high as the ceiling would not hurt. The white cat was hearing all this. It thought, “Why would they come here to play at all. They can only disturb me or spoil the roses.., instead, they can play in between the shady trees in the garden.. Who knows, their ball might touch the sky!”

Related: 11 Inspirational & Motivational Stories with morals For Children

Did you know?

Educational stories make it easier to impart cultural awareness, potentially contributing to long-term academic success(2)

Scary Bedtime Stories

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7. There Are Monsters In My Room

A little girl named Norah is scared of nights. She hugs her bear tight and covers the pillow over her head. With every little sound or shadow, she runs to her mommy. Her mom hugs her tight and tells her to keep calm. But now that she is five-and-a-half years old, she is braver than ever before!!

Related: 23 Top Scary Stories For Kids To Read With Rapt Attention

8. Monster, monster, one, two, three.. – by Michael Yu

Eric was a naughty boy. Bedtime was never fun for him. He doesn’t like to bath, brush, or pull his pajamas. One fine day, Eric’s mom decided to tell him about a monster. She said, “I will tell you about the monster once you are ready for the bed.”

For the very first time, Eric willingly took a bath, brushed his teeth and got ready. Now, mom took little Eric to the kitchen and filled a plate with chocolate chips and cookies. They both went to bed. Then the mom said, “Get under the covers. And say, Monster, monster, one, two, three.. come out and play with me? Monster will do anything for these yummy cookies.”

Did you know?

There are courses that teach the actual cultural history and underlying historical events and beliefs behind the theme and story of “Dracula,” the classic horror novel by Bram Stoker(3)

Funny Bedtime Stories

9. Wake Up, Sun – by David L. Harrison

One midnight, a flea bit a dog on his ear. The dog woke up saying “Woof! Woof!” It must be time to get up, thought the dog. Meanwhile, even pig woke up saying “Oink! Oink!” The pig said to dog, “be quiet”.

Dog: “It is time to get up.”
Pig: “No it is not! Sun is not up!”
Dog: “Where can the Sun be?”
Pig: “Maybe it fell in the well……..”

10. The Milkmaid And Her Pail

A milkmaid named Patty was carrying milk in a pail on her head. She was going to the market. As she was walking, she began planning about what she would do with the money she got from selling the milk. She thought of buying some fowls. Fowls would lay eggs, which she can sell. With the money she got from selling eggs, she could buy a dimity frock and a hat, which will make her look pretty. Then she would meet a handsome man, who would ask her to marry him. She would say no, nodding her head… dreaming this, she nodded her head and her pail fell. All her milk was spilled on the ground.

Moral: Do not dream about the fruits you get even before the work gets over!

Dinosaur Bedtime Stories

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11.

A Fish And A Dinosaur

A little fish lives with its family in a pond. Its father was the king of the fishes in the pond. One day a huge dinosaur came to that pond and drank half of the water. Fishes were worried if the dinosaur would come again to drink the remaining water. They all went to the fish king and pleaded for help.

The little fish got an idea and said, “I will send the dino tomorrow.” It waited the next day for the dino to come. After the dino had come, the little fish requested it to go away and find some other pond. But the dinosaur refused! The fish did not lose patience and will. It went on requesting. Finally, the dinosaur agreed to go away if the fish wins a race with it. The challenge was to see who goes first from one end to the other of the pond.

The little fish took the challenge. It tried hard and swam as fast as it could. Dino could not run fast due to its heavy body. Eventually, the dinosaur lost the race and went away!

12. What If The Dinosaurs Come Back?

Jessica, a five-year-old, loved dinosaurs. “What happened to all the dinosaurs?” she wondered. “Where did they all go?” Many thoughts flooded her mind.

“Did they all go to a picnic on a deserted island?”
“Did they all fly to the moon in a spaceship?”
“Did they go deep into the ground to find a buried treasure?”

“If they all come back, they could be of great help!”
“They can rescue little kittens stuck in the trees!”
“They could help firefighters put off the flames!”
“They could pick the best apples from the tree top!”… She thought that she would wait for them to come back.

Did you know?

The popular movies “Jurassic Park” and its sequel “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” are based on the novels written by the science fiction author Michael Crichton.

Halloween Bedtime Stories

13. Halloween Skeleton For The Doctor

An interim went to collect a new skeleton from the store. He collected one and reached the consultant surgeon’s office, where he found a queue of patients waiting. As he entered the door, he saw people gazing at him enquiringly. He smiled and said, ‘I am bringing him to the doctor.’ An old lady sympathetically said, ‘My dear! Isn’t he a bit late for the doctor?’

14. The Old Witch

Once there was a little girl who never obeyed her elders, so how could she be happy? Even after her parents’ refusal, she went to a witch’s house. The old women there asked, “Why are you so pale?”

Trembling all over, the girl replied, “I saw a black man on your steps.”

“That was a collier,” the witch replied back.

The girl said, “When I peeped through your window, I saw a creature with a fiery head.”
The old women replied, “Then you have seen the witch in a proper dress”, saying so, she turned the girl into a block of wood and threw in the fire.
Then the satisfied witch sat and said, “How good I feel!”

Moral: Obey elders and follow their instructions!

Classic Bedtime Stories

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15.

Little Ant’s Big Plan – by Candice Dingwall

A little ant loved to read! While the other ants collected food for the winter, the little ant kept reading all the day. When the queen asked for more food to store, the little ant shouted about the place he read about. He said that “the restaurant is the place we need. People eat there.” All the ants went marching in search of a restaurant. The little ant found a restaurant. They went in and found a lot of food. A few ants carried burger, while some carried a bun. When they returned, the queen felt glad and all praised the little ant!

Related: 21 Interesting Bedtime And Fairy Tales For Kids To Read

16. Mrs. Penguin’s Perfect Palace

Mrs. Penguin wished to have a house. She no longer wanted to live in rubbish. Papa Penguin said, “We will build a house for you, darling.” The penguin family began the work.

Sissie said, “The sand is making me itch.”
Boetie said, “The measurements are wrong.”
Gobbles said, “I am hungry. ”

Mrs. Penguin continued doing all the work herself. Finally, the castle was done! But, a tide washed it away. Papa Penguin said, “We will try it again.”

The penguin family set to work again….
Sissie said, “The stones are heavy.”
Boetie said, “The measurements are wrong.”
Gobbles said, “I am still hungry.”

It was finished at last, but the wind blew it over. Papa Penguin said, “We will try it again.”

Mrs. Penguin screamed, “I will not do it anymore.”
Boetie said, “We can’t build a house without cement.”

Then Mrs. Penguin got an idea. She asked Boetie to fetch wood, Sissie to find nets, Gobbles to pick up plastic and papa to fetch the hammer. They worked all the day.

Sissie said, “I am tired.” Momma replied, “Keep going.”
Boetie said, “The measurements are wrong.” Momma replied, “Keep working.”
Gobbles said, “I am still hungry.” Momma replied, “Keep working.”

They worked, worked and worked! Finally, the house was finished! Mrs. Penguin’s Perfect Palace!

Interactive Stories

17. Bananas For Lunch

A fat little monkey wanted bananas for lunch. He peeled and ate one. Munch, munch, munch! He went on.. two bananas, three bananas, four bananas, five bananas. He ate but wanted more. He kept on peeling and eating. Six bananas, seven bananas, eight bananas..! He peeled two more.. nine and ten bananas! He finished the whole bunch and fell!

18. The Five Little Babies

One little baby waves, “bye, bye, bye!”
A little boy cries, “wah, wah, wah!”
This little boy goes, “clap, clap, clap!”
This little boy takes a nice long nap!
Other little boy goes “goo, goo, goo!”
Now, all the five little babies go peek-a-boo!

Do not make bedtime stories a dull routine. Make them interesting by adding a tone to it. Make some sounds, make it dramatic, and involve your child to make sure that she is listening, and rest assured your little one is going to enjoy these amazing interactive stories for toddlers.

What To Do While Narrating Bedtime Stories To Toddlers?

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Reading is one of the simple activities you can do for your toddler. It does not require a special skill or equipment. Just some good books and peaceful environment is what is needed. Here are some tips to make your toddler look forward to short bedtime stories.

  1. Be comfortable and flexible: Be comfortably seated and narrate slowly at your pace. Making mistakes is okay. It may turn funny, as your little one catches the mistake and tries to rectify. Make it a routine!
  1. You can be silly and curious: Make noises and encourage your little one to join you. Repeat phrases in a story. Do not worry if your toddler is running around in the middle. He might be in action, but his ears are working!! Do not restrict yourself to books. You may also read out magazines, newspapers, etc.
  1. Repeats are fine: Repeat the same story if your darling asks for it the millionth time. Toddlers learn through repetition. Ask him plenty of questions, and get him involved (4). Storytime could be a family get-together, so involve all the other family members too!

1. What age is appropriate for bedtime stories?

You can start reading bedtime stories to your baby as early as you wish, even right from birth. Though they would not understand, they may enjoy your company and connect with the sound of your voice. As they grow older, they may like touching, flipping, chewing, or playing with the book (5).

2. At what age should bedtime stories stop?

There is no fixed age recommendation for parents to stop reading bedtime stories to their children. However, you may stop reading to them once they learn and prefer to read alone.

3. Why do parents read bedtime stories?

Parents usually read bedtime stories to their toddlers because it has various benefits, including:

  • It enriches their language development on multiple levels.
  • It improves their imagination.
  • It gives them an outlet for empathy.
  • It builds their vocabulary so they can communicate better.
  • It encourages engagement and conversation.
  • It offers a chance to be silly and spend quality time with their little ones.

Reading or narrating bedtime stories for toddlers is one of the best ways to bond with them. Stories develop children’s imagination, release stress, and improve their communication skills. So, make it a routine to get together with your toddler every night for some interesting story session. Don’t mind if the story is repeated or silly. The important part is to have fun and make the moment memorable. Stories like The Old Witch, A Fish And A Dinosaur, and The Sisters are short and engaging. You can read these stories and create your own based on them. Choose a situation and keep building fun stories around them. Also, try to create stories with situations that children are familiar with, like their schools, friends, and teachers. This will tickle their curiosity and keep them longing for more.


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12 Interesting Bedtime Stories for Babies and Toddlers

Reading bedtime stories to your little fellow is a wonderful way to bond with him. Reading stories to your kiddo can inculcate a love of reading in him and help him understand the language better. When you snuggle up in bed with your toddler and read him a bedtime story, it has a calming effect that lulls your little munchkin to sleep. It is a great idea to use picture books and even books with sound effects, as babies find these books very interesting. If you read bedtime stories to your child, we know as a parent, the bedtime story ritual can become tedious if you narrate the same stories over and over to your kiddo. If you are out of books and stories to narrate to your child, we have something for you. Read these engrossing stories to your child!

Here are 12 of the best bedtime stories for babies and toddlers. These are the most popular bedtime storybooks that will definitely have a calming effect on your baby and soothe him to sleep.

1. Goodnight Moon

This is one of the most popular short bedtime stories that you can read to your toddler. This picture book is written by Margaret Wise Brown and is about a rabbit’s routine before bedtime. The bunny says goodnight to everything around him. Written as a rhyming poem, Goodnight Moon describes how the bunny says goodnight to various inanimate and living objects around him, such as a dollhouse, a red balloon, two kittens, the moon, etc. This is a cute story to read to your toddler to make him sleep.

2. The Very Hungry Caterpillar

This story written by Eric Carle is a well-known storybook. This book has colourful pictures and some pages of books have holes in them, which denote that the caterpillar is eating through various foods. This story is about the lifecycle of a caterpillar; it describes how the caterpillar comes out of the egg and becomes a butterfly. On a Sunday morning, from an egg perched on the leaf, a caterpillar hatches and starts to look for food. He eats a leaf but is not satisfied. He then eats through increasing quantities of various foods for the next five days. On Monday the caterpillar eats through 1 apple, on Tuesday 2 pears, on Wednesday 3 plums, 4 strawberries on Thursday, and 5 oranges on Friday. On Saturday, the caterpillar has an enormous feast of one piece each of chocolate cake, pickle, ice-cream cone, salami, Swiss cheese, lollipop, sausage, cherry pie, cupcake, and watermelon. After this, the caterpillar has a terrible ache in his stomach from eating too much food. He feels much better on Sunday once he returns to his regular diet of a green leaf. Later, he spins a cocoon to wrap himself and remains in it for two weeks. As the two weeks pass, the caterpillar emerges out from the cocoon transformed into a colourful, beautiful butterfly with majestic wings. This book can teach your toddler counting up to five, names of various foods, days of the week, and of course the life cycle of a butterfly.

3. Dr Seuss’s Sleep Book

Dr Seuss’s Sleep Book describes the bedtime routines of different creatures The story of this book starts at the County of Keck, where there is a small bug named Van Vleck who yawns so wide that one can see down his neck. The yawn spreads to some birds who are building their nests to sleep for the night. The story goes on to describe even strange creatures and the weird ways in which they sleep. As the story progresses, it explains about different things that creatures do unintentionally while they are asleep, such as dreaming, snoring, sleep-talking, and sleepwalking. In the end, there is a page in the book which shows sleeping creatures snuggling against each other with their eyes shut and a smile on their faces.

4. Hush Little Baby

This book is written by Sylvia Long and is a modern version of the old bedtime lullaby. The original lullaby has lyrics that promise a child various rewards such as a Mockingbird and a diamond ring if he goes to sleep. The one by Sylvia Long tells the story of a mother bunny that puts her baby bunny to sleep by singing a lullaby. The lullaby is about different wonderful things of nature, such as a flying hummingbird, the evening sky, the call of crickets, a shooting star, and the harvest moon. The book ends with the mama bunny promising the baby bunny a lullaby.


5. The Crunching Munching Caterpillar by Sheridan Cain

This book contains cheerful and bright pictures. The story is about a caterpillar who is always hungry. The caterpillar is busy crunching and munching on leaves when various flying creatures visit him. He is visited by a bumble bee, a sparrow, and a butterfly. When he expresses his desire to fly like each of them, he is told that he is too large and bulky and has no wings to fly. The caterpillar then wraps himself in a leaf and spins a cocoon around his body. He then naps for a long time. When he wakes up, he stretches himself and discovers that he has become a beautiful butterfly.

6. The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle

This story is about an ill-tempered ladybug who thinks that she is better than other creatures and refuses to share or say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. The ladybug meets a new animal every hour and tries to pick a fight with each one of them. She first meets a wasp, then a stag beetle, and so on, with the animals getting bigger each time. She finally meets a whale and attempts to get into a fight with it, but the whale slaps the ladybug all the way back to land. The hungry tired ladybug then flies home to her aphid-covered leaf, where another kind ladybug offers to share the aphids with her for dinner. This book is unique as it has the picture of a clock on each page to show the time. In this way, the book teaches kids about telling time, size comparisons, and standing up to the bullies. Read this story to your kiddo if he loves to hear animal stories.

7. Goodnight, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann

This book has colourful pictures and it tells the story of a naughty gorilla at a zoo. The book has very few words, but the colourful pictures tell the story in a very playful way. A zookeeper goes for his nighttime rounds and bids goodnight to a lion, a giraffe, and gorilla. However, the mischievous gorilla steals the zookeeper’s keys from his belt and lets all the animals out of their cages. The animals that are freed include a mouse, a lion, a giraffe, an armadillo, and an elephant. The animals follow the zookeeper into his house when he finishes his work and returns home. Finally, Mrs zookeeper takes them all back to the zoo and tells them to stay put. This is a funny animal story and is sure to make your little tot laugh.

8. The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

This is a lovely story about a baby racoon named Chester, who is terrified of starting kindergarten the next day and being away from his mom. Chester’s mother comforts him and tells him about all the wonderful things he will see and learn at school. She tells him about how he will learn to read books, get to play with new toys, and make new friends. Chester is still worried about leaving his mother, so she reassures him by telling him about the secret of the ‘kissing hand’. She plants a kiss on Chester’s palm and tells him that whenever he feels lonely or misses her, he should press the hand that she kissed to his cheek and think that his mom loves him. Chester is finally convinced that his mom’s love will stay with him no matter where he goes. Chester then returns the favour by giving his mom a ‘kissing hand’ by kissing her palm. He then goes to school happily.


9. The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown

In the story, a young bunny admits to his mother that he wants to run away from home. His mother assures him that she will follow him wherever he goes and take whatever form necessary to be near him. It starts off with the bunny saying that he will run away when the mother says she will run after him. The baby bunny then says if she runs after him, he would become a fish in a stream and swim away. The mother says she will then become a fisherman and fish for the bunny. The baby bunny then says that he will become a rock on a high mountain to which the mother replies that she will become a mountain climber and climb up to him. Next, the bunny imagines becoming a crocus in a garden. The mother says that she would become the gardener and find him. This goes on in a similar fashion, and finally, the bunny says he will become a little boy and run into the house. The mama bunny replies that she will then become the little boy’s mother and hug him tightly. The baby bunny then realises that he might as well stay right there with his mom and be her little baby.

10. Monkey Puzzle by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

This is the story of a little monkey trying to find his mother with the help of a butterfly. He tells the butterfly he has lost his mum, and the butterfly says she will help him find his mom. The butterfly then asks the monkey how big his mom is. When the monkey says his mum is bigger than him, the butterfly takes him to an elephant. The monkey then says the elephant is not his mum as she does not have a trunk or tusk or thick knees. He also says that his mum’s tail coils around trees. So the butterfly takes him to a snake. When the monkey says that the snake is not his mum and that his mum has legs. The butterfly then takes him to a spider. The monkey tells the butterfly that the spider is not his mum because his mum lives on the trees. The butterfly then takes him to a parrot. The monkey tells the butterfly that the parrot is not his mum and that his mum can leap and spring. This time, the butterfly takes him to a frog. The story goes on like this. Finally, the monkey tells the butterfly that his mum looks just like him. The butterfly says that she did not know that he would take after his mom as her babies do not look like her. The butterfly then takes the monkey to his mum. The story is fun to read – we are sure your little one will enjoy it.

11. Snoozers: Seven Short Short Bedtime Stories for Lively Little Kids by Sandra Boynton

This book has seven short bedtime stories for young children. These stories are in the form of a poem with rhyming words in them. The names of the different stories are Snoozers, I’m Not Tired, The Big Yawn, Pajamas, Six Sleepy Sheep, Night Sounds, and Silly Lullaby. Snoozers features a pig, a duck, and a dog that talk about how they like to snooze all day in various positions such as horizontal, and upside down. It ends with the animals saying that when night falls, they put on their pyjamas, hug their moms and try to stay awake all night. The second story, I’m Not Tired, is a story about a little bear that hides under a chair to avoid bedtime and tells his parent that he is not tired. He keeps refusing to go to bed even after much cajoling by the parent. Finally, he falls asleep under the chair in his hiding place, and his parents put him back in bed after wishing him sweet dreams. The Big Yawn is a story of a dinosaur called Pteranodon that has a giant yawn. Pyjamas talks about how various animals like chickens, pigs, hippos, lions, rabbits, and moose like to wear their pyjamas. Six Sleepy Sheep counts six sheep one by one and describes the different things each sheep is doing, such as painting the night sky or singing a lullaby. Night Sounds describes the noises of different animals like the tiger, cheetah, crocodile, and elephant make while sleeping at night. The last story is Silly Lullaby which is a song with silly words like ‘Go to sleep, my zoodle; my fibblety fitsy foo’.

12. Oliver Who Would Not Sleep by Mara Bergman

This story is about a boy named Oliver who is not ready to sleep and likes staying awake. After his parents read him a story, kiss him goodnight, and tuck him into bed, he wakes up and bounces out of bed. He then spends time painting, drawing, reading and practising magic. He also plays with his racing cars. He then imagines blasting off in his rocket and seeing rooftops, trees, and houses and cities in the night. His rocket then flies past the stars and the moon and lands on Mars. Oliver stands and stares at all the empty space on Mars. Suddenly a light flashes far away, where he sees his house and longs to go back home. Oliver then gets back into his rocket ship and soars back home through mountains, trees and rooftops once again. Oliver returns home to find his cuddly toys cosy and warm, waiting for him to come to bed. So with a stretch and a big yawn, Oliver finally falls asleep in his bed with his cuddly toys.

These are some bedtime stories you should read to your munchkin. If your child wants to have some fun before bedtime, you can make these stories funnier and adventurous. Reading bedtime stories with funny voices, impressions, and sounds will make the stories much more enjoyable for the little ones. Reading bedtime stories to your baby or toddler can help create a comforting bedtime ritual for you both and also bring you closer to your baby.

Also Read: 15 Interesting Bedtime Stories for Kids

Fairy tales for the little ones - read for free online

Fairy tales for kids - fascinating and instructive works of folklore and famous authors, whose work can attract attention and interest even the most restless kids. A variety of stories dedicated to heroic heroic deeds, the world of magic and witchcraft, animals, will awaken the imagination of even the smallest. Through these fairy tales, kids will comprehend the world around them, learn kindness, justice, honesty and responsibility.

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Demonstrate even

per do 3000 how to read with kids from birth to three years old: how to instill in children a love of reading, teach them to listen to poems and fairy tales, look at illustrations, as well as how to choose the right books for the youngest category of readers.


But first, a few words about why you need to read to children, who for the most part have not yet really learned to speak. Reading children's books is a whole complex of activities. It consists of viewing illustrations, listening to text, matching text and pictures. Reading with a child is a serious job of developing the ability to listen, look at and notice details, read symbols and guess the meaning. By reading to a young child, we contribute to the development of his intellect, broaden his horizons, answer his questions, enrich his emerging speech. In addition, reading is a pleasant form of leisure, a way to distract an upset or naughty baby, one of the elements of the ritual of preparing for sleep, and it is also a whole world of fairy tales, without which it is difficult to imagine a happy childhood.

From birth to 6 months
Actually, the process of reading with children begins long before reading itself. In order for the baby to show interest in books, it is important that he masters two skills - the ability to listen and the ability to look at pictures.
It is known that the child's hearing develops in the womb and even before birth, the baby is able to hear and perceive the voices of parents, music, sounds of nature. And this is the valuable sensory baggage that you can give your baby even before he is born. During pregnancy, try to surround yourself and your baby with only pleasant sounds, arrange relaxation sessions more often, listen to good music, talk to your baby and tell him stories. And the meaning of fairy tales is absolutely not important here, your intonation, rhythm and pace of a work of art are much more important. When the baby is born, those poems and fairy tales performed by you, which he heard before he was born, will have a calming effect on him, and parents will always find something to tell the baby to console him or entertain him.
As the baby grows up, the parental repertoire will gradually expand - to the fairy tales or poems already familiar to the child, nursery rhymes, jokes, lullabies and songs will be added. The book as it is is not yet needed here, but the verses of Barto, Chukovsky and Marshak memorized by heart will come in handy, as well as funny rhymes about the clubfoot bear and others that our mothers and grandmothers told us.
Your newborn baby grows and develops, and at the same time, his vision develops. Such an important organ in the knowledge of the world. When, by about three or four weeks, the baby learns to concentrate his eyes for a few seconds and thoroughly examines the faces of dad and mom - and these are the most important objects to look at at this age, you can offer him other objects that the baby will be happy to look at. These can be black and white pictures depicting lines, patterns or geometric shapes, as well as fairly large toys painted in one bright color. Such objects are able to hold the attention of newborn babies for a long time, and the ability to concentrate the gaze develops vision and enhances brain activity.
Already later, by three or four months, you will offer the child pictures that are more complex in color and shape - these can be drawings or photographs depicting people, animals, vehicles. Plus, you will show the child the world around - an apartment, a street. It is very important at the same time to pronounce the names of the objects that the baby sees.
So, from the age of birth to six months, "reading" is a synthesis of two actions - looking at pictures and objects, as well as listening to works of art in the background.

6 months to 1 year
Perhaps your baby is already sitting, but even if not, then he probably already lies on his tummy for a long time or half-sitting in your arms. And for sure, he is showing more and more interest in everything that surrounds him.
It's time to get your first children's book. We are talking about cardboard baby books, which consist of a small number of dense, durable and safe pages. In fact, the pages are everything. Children like to manipulate the book by turning the pages - this, in addition to everything, is also a great exercise for developing fine motor skills. Most likely, the book will be tried on the tooth, but it will be reviewed one way or another. Do not buy a lot of baby books, two or three will be enough. Pretty soon you will see that the baby is ready to move on and then you can choose more meaningful books for reading together. The choice of the first book is a responsible matter.

Here are some rules to help you:

  • The book must have thick cardboard pages, the binding must be of high quality. It is important to be sure that when the child picks up the book, it will remain intact.
  • Simplicity of illustrations. Ideally, when one image is placed on one page, if this is a plot, then it should be as simple as possible. It is still difficult for a child at this age to perceive a large number of details, he also does not understand the complex actions of the characters. The simpler the image, the more recognizable it will be to the child - accordingly, the interest in the book will be higher.
  • Moderate colors. Ideally, if the book contains only four primary colors - red, yellow, green, blue (not counting black and white). The diversity of the image, again, will not be useful, but will only tire the child.
  • Realistic pictures. The crocodile should be green and the tomato should be red. This is one of the most important points. A child at this age absorbs information in a colossal volume, and the inconsistency in its content is now absolutely useless. The same applies to the appearance of animals. Often artists like to depict animals in clothes, but this is absolutely contrary to the real idea of ​​a cat or dog, for example. In the future, in more adult books, when the child will already be oriented in the world of objects and will understand what is reality and what is a fairy tale, then the cat can be in a dress, and in a hat, and with beads (if this corresponds to the plot). At the initial stage of understanding the world, a cat should look like a cat - four paws, a mustache, ears and a tail.

So, the ideal book for babies from six months old is a small cardboard format, in which each page shows a picture, the words in such a book are optional. You will simply tell the child about what is shown in the picture - this will be the first fairy tale.
When you choose a book for your six-month-old baby, you need to find a moment when the child will be in a good mood, put him in your arms or lie down next to him and turn the pages of the book, sometimes saying what is depicted on them. Such “reading” will become the baby’s favorite pastime for a long time, he will especially like it when the baby learns to turn the pages on his own.

From one to two years
Among children and parents who love books, there is even a list of books that are ideal for kids of this age. We can say that these are win-win options:

  1. V. Bianchi "The Fox and the Mouse" - an excellent edition illustrated by Yu. Vasnetsov;
  2. E. Karl "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" - world bestseller;
  3. E. Karl "From Head to Feet" - also a favorite book of kids all over the world;
  4. Russian folk tales and nursery rhymes illustrated by Y. Vasnetsov;
  5. Children's books by Japanese writer Yusuke Yonezu.

Usually these books instantly become favorites among kids and are read to holes. They are valuable, first of all, for their illustrations, their small texts are simple and uncomplicated. These books are just perfect for learning to relate pictures to text - an important skill that will come in handy for a child in the future.
The kid grows up and his interest in reading continues to grow - at some point you will understand that the reading list should be expanded and collections of poems by K. Chukovsky, S. Marshak, A. Barto, B. Zakhoder, as well as fairy tales V Suteeva.
Encourage any child's interest in books. It happens that in the entire collection of poems the baby is attracted only by one quatrain or one picture, read and examine them again and again. Only your sincere interest, your interest and patience (sometimes you have to read the same verse thirty times a day) can support the love of reading in a baby.
Also an important point of this period is looking at plot pictures, and it will remain so for a long time, becoming more complicated and changing depending on the age and interests of the child. For one or two one-year-old children, the pictures for looking at should be quite simple and clear, selected by subject - transport, animals, vegetables, fruits. Books like encyclopedias for the smallest respond well to this request.

The child will periodically leaf through these books, linger on the objects he likes, poke his finger or otherwise attract your attention, wanting to know the name of the object. When the baby starts talking, you will ask him what he sees in the pictures, and this will become one of the most beloved joint games.
Looking at pictures, we not only name objects, we also describe their properties, actions, and come up with plots. Thus, we develop the child's imagination, form his vocabulary, enrich his speech, help him learn to look at the same objects differently.
Now quite popular and loved by many children are books for viewing by Suzanne Berner, Doro Goebel and other authors - these books are a real treasure for showing parental improvisation in describing the plots of illustrations.

Books with windows, with moving and tactile elements are a good help in attracting a child to look at pictures. Such publications are able to keep the attention of the child for a long time, increase his interest in the content of the book.

Reading for children aged one to two is the world of illustration. Everything that is written about should be drawn - this is very important for the baby, because he himself cannot yet imagine a bull that walks on a swinging board, but he is happy to discover objects that he has just heard about on the pages of the book.

Two to three
If you started “reading” to a child literally from birth, then most likely at this age you will already be well versed in children's literature, and the reading list for children of two or three years is so wide and varied that it is difficult to cover it in one article. But if you are just starting to read with your baby and it seems to you that he does not show much interest in books, then you can resort to little tricks.