Stories to tell babies

Jack and the Beanstalk

Fairy Tales

Browse our collection of fairy tales including those made famous by The Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen

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Jack and the Beanstalk

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Goldilocks

Harold's Fairy Tale

Little Red Riding Hood

The Three Little Pigs

Three Little Pigs

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Once upon a time, a boy named Jack got himself into the biggest, most humongous heap of trouble ever. It all started when Jack’s mama asked him to milk the old cow. But Jack decided he was tired of milking cows. “No way, no how. I’m not milking this brown cow now,” said Jack, and he decided to sell the old cow, so he’d never have to milk it again! Jack was on his way to market to sell the cow when he came across a peddler. “Hi, Mr. Peddler,” said Jack. “Where are you headed?” asked the peddler. “I’m going to sell my cow at the market,” Jack answered. “Why sell your cow?” asked the peddler. “Trade her for beans!” “Beans?” asked Jack. “Not just any kind of beans,” said the peddler, “magic beans.” “What do they do?” asked Jack. “They do magic!” said the peddler. “Magic? Sold!” said Jack, and he traded the cow for three magic beans. Jack got home and told his mama he had sold the cow so he wouldn’t have to milk her anymore. “Oh dear, you did what?” Jack’s mama asked. “I sold her for magic beans,” said Jack. “You sold a cow for magic beans?” Jack’s mama couldn’t believe what Jack was telling her. “There’s no such thing as magic beans,” she said as she threw the beans out the window. “Well, I did make them disappear, but that still doesn’t make them magic!” Suddenly, the ground rumbled and began to shake. A magic beanstalk grew up right before their eyes! Jack saw it and immediately began to climb the tall beanstalk. “Get back here this instant!” called Jack’s mama, but Jack wasn’t listening. Jack climbed up and up and up and up the beanstalk. At the top of the beanstalk, Jack found a giant castle. He walked up to the giant door, cracked it open, and went inside. Inside the castle, Jack saw the most amazing thing he had ever seen. It was a goose. But it wasn’t just any old ordinary goose. This goose laid eggs made of gold! “That is so cool,” thought Jack. “Think of all the things you could do with golden eggs!” And then, Jack got the worst idea he’d ever had—he was going to take the goose! Jack lifted the goose off of its perch. Just then, the biggest, most fearsome, and only giant Jack had ever seen came into the room. The giant saw that his goose wasn’t in its usual spot! “Fee fi fo funch, if you took my goose, I’ll eat you for lunch!” “Oh no,” thought Jack. “That giant’s going to eat me! I’ve got to get out of here without him seeing me!” Quietly and carefully, Jack took the goose and made his way toward the door. He was almost out of the room when—honk! The goose cried out and the giant spotted Jack! “Fee fi fo fummy, give that back or I’ll call my mummy!” roared the giant. “Ahhh!” screamed Jack. He ran toward the beanstalk. Jack ran as quickly as he could down the beanstalk, but the giant was following close behind. Just as Jack put his feet back on the ground, the giant picked up Jack in his enormous hands. “Fee fi fo fummy, I bet you taste yum yum yummy!” said the giant. Just as the giant was about to eat Jack, the ground began to shake, and there, standing right behind the giant, was an even bigger, taller, more humongous lady giant! “Two giants!” thought Jack. “They’ll eat me now for sure!” “Put that boy down, Willifred,” the giant mama told her son. The giant put Jack back down on the ground. “Now what have I told you?” she asked. “Don’t eat other kids,” said the giant sheepishly. “That’s right, we don’t eat other kids,” said the mama giant. “But he took my goose!” cried the giant. Just then, Jack’s mama came out of the farmhouse. “What on earth is going on here?” she asked. “Well,” Jack began, “there was this castle, and inside was the coolest goose ever—it lays golden eggs! As I was taking it, this giant kid came in and was all ‘fee fi fo fum’ and then I—” “You mean you took this boy’s goose?” Jack’s mama interrupted. “Yeah, but it lays golden eggs!” Jack paused and thought about it. “Huh. Now that you mention it, I guess that wasn’t very nice,” said Jack. Jack looked at the giant. “I’m sorry I took your goose. I know I shouldn’t take things that don’t belong to me.” “That’s OK. I suppose I should’ve asked you to give me back the goose without trying to eat you. I’m sorry too,” said the giant. “Hey, do you want to play baseball?” Jack and the giant became good friends, using the beanstalk to visit each other whenever they wanted. “You know,” Jack said, “if it weren’t for those three magic beans, I never would have learned how to play giant baseball.” “You’re right,” said the giant. “I’d say the whole adventure was a giant success!”

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Kitten's First Full Moon

Bedtime Stories

Find your child's favorite bedtime stories. With a collection of animated stories, you are sure to find a story your child will love. From classics like Kitten's First Moon to new favorites like Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site.

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Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site

Kitten's First Full Moon

Night Boy

Happy Birthday Moon

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It was Kitten’s first full moon. When she saw it, she thought, “There’s a little bowl of milk in the sky.” And she wanted it. So she closed her eyes and stretched her neck and opened her mouth and licked. But Kitten only ended up with a bug on her tongue. Poor Kitten! Still, there was the little bowl of milk, just waiting. So she pulled herself together and wiggled her bottom and sprang from the top step of the porch. But Kitten only tumbled— bumping her nose and banging her ear and pinching her tail. Poor Kitten! Still, there was the little bowl of milk, just waiting. So she chased it— down the sidewalk, through the garden, past the field, and by the pond. But Kitten never seemed to get closer. Poor Kitten! Still, there was the little bowl of milk, just waiting. So she ran to the tallest tree she could find, and she climbed and climbed and climbed to the very top. But Kitten still couldn’t reach the bowl of milk, and now she was scared. Poor Kitten! What could she do? Then, in the pond, Kitten saw another bowl of milk, and it was bigger. What a night! So she raced down the tree and raced through the grass and raced to the edge of the pond. She leaped with all her might— Poor Kitten! She was wet and sad and tired and hungry. So she went back home. And there was a great big bowl of milk on the porch, just waiting for her. Lucky Kitten!

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7 parenting stories that are definitely worth sharing with your child

Our time begins with our birth. Children often feel like the world revolves around them. It is difficult for them to realize that their parents existed long before they themselves appeared. Yes, they didn’t just exist, but they worked, loved each other, traveled and grew up themselves.

Starts every year at three. The child hears how parents or older children share their memories, and asks: “Was I there then?” And they answer him: "No, you haven't been yet." Further, an advanced child can clarify: "I was still in my mother's tummy, right?" And he hears in response: "No, you weren't anywhere at all then." And this, of course, is difficult to comprehend: how is it - nowhere? How is it that I was not there? How is it - grandfather, but suddenly he was small? But gradually time lines up, the schoolboy dad no longer surprises, and the child begins to collect facts about the life of his parents before himself into a mental family album.

1. You also had F's (and you were taken to the police station, which was still the police then)

A neighbor's boy fell off his bike and broke his leg. "It's nothing," says Dad. - In my childhood, I also broke my leg twice and once my arm. True, I didn’t fall off the bike, but down the stairs at school. And once he punched a hole in his head. Here, feel, here I have a bump under my hair. And then he tells the child a story about his literally childhood traumas. The son listens with great interest, fitting himself into the context of family adventures, failures, pranks and stupidities. He understands that he is not unique, his parents also got into annoying situations and somehow got out of them. Mom once also got stuck in an elevator, dad couldn’t sing, and at the age of seven grandmother was taken to the police for picking flowers near the monument to Lenin.

2. Previously, everyone lived without mobile phones. And without the Internet!

It can be interesting for children to hear how life was arranged before them. There was no Internet and no navigator in the car, and in order to get somewhere, I had to buy a paper map. As a child, my grandmother wore stockings that were fastened to underwear, and my mother collected gum stickers. But something was arranged in exactly the same way. For example, on vacation it was also possible to drive a car, and the children whined in the same way. Only now I'm driving, and before that I was sitting in the back seat, though without any car seat.

3. Before dad (or mom) you fell in love with others

From the age of seven or eight, a child usually begins to be interested in the world of emotions and feelings and relationships with people. This opens up space for stories about situations in which we experienced this or that feeling and behaved one way or another. This is very useful, because we enrich the experience of the child, supplementing it with our own. Of course, nothing can replace your own impressions, but this is how parents develop the child's imagination (offer him their own analogies to his situation) and empathize with each other. What you should not do is to inspire the child what exactly he should feel in this or that case. It is better to ask: “What would you do? And how would you behave in my place?

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Another type of story is about mother and father. The story of acquaintance, love, travel, the birth of older brothers and sisters, and maybe the story of divorce, separation or death of the father - all this must be told as soon as the child begins to understand what's what. And the more problematic the story, the more important it is to give the child a complete picture of what is happening as soon as possible. It should not contain myths and omissions, but it is very important for a child that mom and dad love each other at least for a while. There is no need to lie, but it is necessary to tell the best part of the truth first. In any case, this is a story with a happy ending, because in the end, the one to whom everyone tells this was born!

By the way, it is very important to talk about the ancestors of a child who died before he was born or when he was one or two years old. Character, habits, words - all this lives as long as we remember it. And this is triple important when it comes to a parent who died early.

5. Yes, you too had a severe hangover

The most controversial category of stories are stories about the mistakes of youth. Many parents are just eager to tell their teenager how disgusting the hangover after a wild drinking bout, how unpleasant the first early sex is, and how they once smoked something wrong and caught a panic attack. Maybe this is normal - in terms of the fact that parents are not perfection and not stiff bastards who never made a mistake. But do not count on the educational effect of such stories. Everything will be different for a son or daughter - more fun, scarier, more boring, more complicated or easier. They are not you. Do not try to generalize or impose your experience. And if you go a little further - why do these stories at all? Your first negative experience with another person may not be like that.

The exception is, in my opinion, stories about rare and life-threatening situations. For example, I forever remembered my father's story about the viper's bite and the suction of the poison, and also about the fact that you can literally get lost in three pines. But such things are usually told not as an edification, but as a continuation of the transfer of experience from an adult to a child. At 150 km/h, a pedestrian on the side of the road is not visible at all, a floral print in the apiary is inappropriate, and so on. If such stories are told in time, they can really help a child in adult life.

6. Life can be difficult, but always interesting

At some point, we get to stories that have nothing to do with our child at all. These are not stories about childhood and not about "where did I come from and how it was." These are stories about adult life and its structure. But here it is important to follow some rules:

• A child (teenager) must be ready to learn this story. For children up to a certain age, it is very important that the parent is unshakable, not weak, not in a vulnerable position. Therefore, let us beware of telling children under 12-13 years old about situations in which we were helpless. And then you can and should talk about it. People are not supermen, they need the help of others, and it is very useful to pass on the experience of such a situation to a child.
• For ourselves, this story should remain in the past. If something worries us still, it is better not to share it with children. A sign that the story has not passed is a wave of anger, bitterness or shame that boils in the chest at the memory. If so, then it's better not to. If a parent tries to tell a child what bastards people really are, the child may not believe and move away or receive distorted ideas about reality.

7. You were also just happy (often)

The most necessary, as it seems to me, kind of stories. These are stories about how happy we were without children. Of course, not in the sense that "and then you were born, and happiness ended." Rather, about the fact that the parent is a separate interesting person with his own meaning of life, history and memories. Impressions, travel, tastes, people, victories - everything that we tried long before the child was born. Let the child feel how much interesting and diverse life is. Let him understand that being an adult is nice. And, of course, that the world revolves not only around children and parents, but on its own.

Photo: iStockphoto (hipokrat, Tomsmith585, kevinruss, marlenka, karenfoleyphotography)

Still from the cartoon "From the slopes of Kokuriko"

How and why to tell stories to children. Useful tips.

Fundamental skills play an important role in the development of a child. Stories develop imagination and thinking, being a fertile ground for the growth and development of children. Having filled the story with a vivid plot, interesting characters, unexpected events and mysterious adventures, you can immerse yourself in a fairy-tale world.

Telling stories to children is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance.

A simple example of how to come up with an interesting and useful story

The main character is better to be a child in the form of a prototype. Eg! Child Ira, 4 years old and she is worried that she does not have a toy like Tanya. Then the story will be about the girl Kira, who really wanted to get a toy like Anya's. The story should be as close to the reality of the child as possible. The age of the child must also be taken into account, for example, “there was Kira and she was 3 years old, she went to kindergarten. Kira dreamed of the same bear that Anya had. It is necessary to touch the feelings of the baby and convey how much she would like to have a toy like Anya's. At the end of the story, come up with several solutions. Offering a child one way out of the situation is not worth it, there must be a choice. Otherwise, it will be difficult for him to make decisions on his own in the future.

The whole story is reminiscent of a child's life, thus touching on events that are important to him. And the ending is discussed in the form of dialogue to help sort things out. All this develops thinking skills and the ability to make decisions.

Benefits of stories

Stories help develop the following skills:

• Develop empathy, the ability to accept the opinions or feelings of others.
• Formation of a sense of morality. In the process of the story, you need to show the child emotions using the example of different feelings and their manifestations, so the child will learn to compare different actions. For example, good and evil.
• Broadening their horizons on the stories of different peoples of the world will tell children about the life and way of life of other cultures. They will help to understand their life and diversity.
• You can develop memory by asking your child about the stories they have already read.
• Unleash the imagination and teach creativity. Immersed in fantasy stories, let the child fantasize. Perhaps this will help in the future to find a suitable profession or hobby.
• Develop perseverance in the process of reading. Listening to an interesting story for the child, concerts his attention.
• Instill curiosity. While reading, it is necessary to focus on places that are interesting to the child. Reading expressively, slowly and changing intonation will allow the child to ask questions.
• Increase concentration. Pretty simple, but no less important skill to develop. Not only reading, any desktop activities will help you concentrate. The main thing is to catch the attention of the child.
• Expand vocabulary while listening to stories, contributes to a good children's memory. It is necessary to allow the child to ask their meaning.
• To develop emotionality using the examples of fairy tale heroes, showing what feelings their hero experiences and how it manifests.
• Teach to communicate using a figurative example from stories. The child will bring his imagination to life, first through games, and then in live communication.

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