15 Fascinating Bedtime Stories for Kids

Reading a bedtime story to your kids is an amazing way to connect with them. It brings the family closer in an intimate setting that makes the child feel special. Memories of kids are made as stories are told. This time together is something that they will always cherish. Reading stories to children is also a way to teach them good manners, right from wrong, and respect for others. They develop moral values and a civic sense. Hearing bedtime stories also helps a child to develop vocabulary and attain mastery of the language. To further encourage creative and imaginative abilities in your child, you can either read a story from a storybook, find a story online, or tell one from your memory.

Oftentimes a great bedtime story is improvised to suit the mood of your child in that particular moment. These stories are typically ones that have been told for many years in many different ways. Popular stories include ones about princesses and princes, great monsters and knights, children on adventures, and some exciting tales.

Let these bedtime stories transport you to loads of mystery and fantasy, to countries where nothing is impossible. If you like these amazing stories from tinycrayons, click here and share them with your friends and loved ones. Enjoy a happy reading time with tinycrayons!

15 Fascinating Bedtime Stories for Kids

The Hare and the Tortoise

Once there was a hare who wouldn’t stop teasing a tortoise for his slowness. “I’m the fastest runner in the woods and you are the slowest one! We should compete!” he jeered. One day the tortoise, tired of the hare showing off, agreed to have a running competition. “You may be fast, but I am consistent”, he said.

The next day the tortoise and the hare stood at the start, ready for the race. “One, two, three, go”, said the hare and they started running. The hare was a long way in front of the tortoise when he saw a field of cabbages. He looked back and almost couldn’t see the tortoise. “Take your time!” he shouted to the tortoise, “I’ll have a snack here and still I’ll win the race!”

After finishing breakfast, the hare looked around to see how far the tortoise had got. He still hadn’t passed halfway! Feeling sleepy after his snack, the hare thought to himself, “I will have a quick nap now and when I wake up I will quickly run past the finish line.” He fell into a deep sleep and dreamed of winning the competition. Time passed and the sun was already setting when the hare woke up. He jumped and looked around to see the tortoise a few steps from the finish line. The hare rushed towards the finish line as fast as he could, but the tortoise was already crossing it, winning the competition. “You don’t always have to be the fastest to win”, the tortoise told the hare, who was sobbing in disgrace.

The cow’s bell

James, the young pleasant boy, was guarding the herd of cows in the woods. Each cow had a bell around his neck and the most beautiful cow had the best bell. One day a stranger passed through the woods and looked at the herd of cows. He went to James and asked to give him a bell from one of his cows. James agreed and took forty bucks in return. Now the cow did not have the bell. The stranger wanted to steal the cow.

Then the cow went off into the woods and the stranger took it by the horns and led it away. Just then James realized that the cow was missing and he could not trace it. So, he went back home crying and narrated the story to his father. His father said: “In the same way as that thief has deceived you, so the pleasures of sin try to deceive us all. If we give in just a little it wants everything.” James felt ashamed for having greed for money and promised not to do such a mistake ever again.

Monkey and the crocodile

Once there was a clever monkey who lived in a tree that bore juicy, red rose apples. He was very happy. One fine day, a crocodile crawl to that tree and told the monkey that he had traveled a long distance and was in search of food as he was very hungry. The kind monkey offered him a few rose apples. The crocodile enjoyed them very much and asked the monkey whether he could come again for some more fruit. The generous monkey happily agreed.

The crocodile was used to repeat the same practice over and over again. Soon the two became very good friends. They discussed their lives, their friends, and their family like all friends do. The crocodile told the monkey that he had a wife and that they lived on the other side of the river. So the kind monkey offered him some extra rose apples to take home to his wife. The crocodile’s wife loved the rose apples and made her husband promise to get her some every day. Meanwhile, the friendship between the monkey and the crocodile has got deepened as they spent more and more time together.

The crocodile’s wife started getting jealous. She wanted to put an end to this friendship. So she pretended that she could not believe that her husband could be friends with a monkey. Her husband tried to convince her that he and the monkey shared a true friendship. The crocodile’s wife thought to herself that if the monkey lived on a diet of rose monkeys, his flesh would be very sweet. So she asked the crocodile to invite the monkey to their house.

The crocodile was not happy about this. He tried to make the excuse that it would be difficult to get the monkey across the river. But his wife was determined to eat the monkey’s flesh. So she thought of a plan. One day, she pretended to be very ill and told the crocodile that the doctor said that she would only recover if she ate a monkey’s heart. If her husband wanted to save her life, he must bring her his friend’s heart. The crocodile was aghast. He was in a dilemma. On the one hand, he loved his friend. On the other, he could not possibly let his wife die. The crocodile’s wife threatened him saying that if he did not get her the monkey’s heart, she would surely die.

So the crocodile went to the rose apple tree and invited the monkey to come home to meet his wife. He told the monkey that he could ride across the river on the crocodile’s back. The monkey happily agreed. As they reached the middle of the river, the crocodile began to sink. The frightened monkey asked him why he was doing that. The crocodile explained that he would have to kill the monkey to save his wife’s life. The clever monkey told him that he would gladly give up his heart to save the life of the crocodile’s wife, but he had left his heart behind in the rose apple tree. He asked the crocodile to make haste and turn back so that the monkey could go get his heart from the apple tree. The silly crocodile quickly swam back to the rose apple tree. The monkey scampered up the tree to safety. He told the crocodile to tell his wicked wife that she had married the biggest fool in the world.

Cinderella

Cinderella, a beautiful girl, is another fairy tale full of magic and adventure. She lived with her wicked stepmother and two stepsisters. The stepmother was very cruel and forced her to do all the house tasks. One day, the stepmother and stepsisters went to the King’s palace, leaving Cinderella at home. Cinderella felt very sad that she had been left behind. Suddenly, a fairy godmother appeared in a burst of light, and she used her magic to transform Cinderella into a princess, wearing a lovely dress and glass slippers. She also turned a pumpkin and some mice into a carriage and horses, respectively. Cinderella could now ready to go to the palace.

The fairy godmother warned her that the magic will wear off at midnight and that Cinderella should return home before that. When Cinderella arrived at the ball, the prince saw her, and they fell in love. They danced together until midnight. When the clock struck twelve, Cinderella rushed to her carriage, leaving one of her glass slippers behind. The prince searched every house in town for the mysterious girl whose foot fit into the glass slipper. He reached the wicked stepmother’s house and found that the shoe belonged to Cinderella. Therefore, the prince and Cinderella got married and lived happily ever after.

Midas and the golden touch

The story of Midas is one of the classic bedtime stories for kids. This ancient story from Greece describes King Midas as a greedy and unhappy man, who loved gold more than anything else. Once, he did a good effort for someone, and a Greek God appeared before him, saying that he will be granted his heart’s desire for doing the good deed. Midas wished that everything he touched should turn into gold, instantly. God accepted his wish. Midas was very excited and start touching objects, turning those into gold. After a while, he became hungry. However, when he touched his food, it turned to gold, and he could not eat it.

He was starving and frightened that he could not eat. Seeing him in trouble, his loving daughter threw her arms around him to comfort him, and she, too, turned to gold. Midas was horrified that his daughter had become a statue of gold. He regretted asking for the Golden Touch and realized that he had been greedy and that gold was not the most precious thing in the world. He cried and begged God to take back his wish. God took pity on him and asked him to take a dip in the river by his palace, and then fill a pitcher of water from the river and sprinkle it on all the things he wanted to change back. He followed the instructions and changed his daughter back to normal. He was very happy to get his beloved daughter back and stopped being wolfish from that moment.

The thief and the House-Dog

One night a thief came into a house. He brought several slices of meat with himself to trick the house dog. The thief entered the house and saw the house dog. Then he threw the pieces of meat towards him. In this act, the dog said, “If you think that by throwing this piece of meat you can fool me, you are mistaken.” The thief throws another piece of meat at the dog.

The dog doesn’t pick up the piece of meat and replies, “I am a trustworthy dog. You cannot make me fool and harm my master.” The dog immediately jumped on the thief. The thief got scared and ran out of the window quickly. The master of the house dog woke up on hearing the barking of the dog. He came out of the room and got to know the event. Then he appreciated his dog and gave him two more pieces of meat to eat as a reward.

The Emperor’s new clothes

This is a  funny bedtime tale. A proud and swaggering emperor used to like displaying himself in beautiful clothes and jewelry. He hires two weavers and promises them a reward if they make for him the best attire ever worn by anyone else.

The weavers are cheaters who tell the king that they are using a special fabric that is invisible to anyone who is stupid or unfit for his position. The weavers are actually tricking the king, by only pretending to stitch the clothes, by miming making clothes.

Thus, even though no one, including the emperor and his ministers, can actually see the clothes, nobody admits it. The weavers claim to have finished the suit and mime-dressing the emperor, who then marches before his subjects to show off his new clothes.

The townspeople go along with this, as they do not want to admit that the king is naked and risk being called stupid. Then, a child who is watching the procession screams that the emperor has no clothes. The child does not understand the reason to keep up the pretense. Hearing the child, others in the crowd also join the child is saying that the emperor is naked. The emperor is very embarrassed. He realizes that his pride and silliness put him in a situation where he became a matter of laughter.

Interrupting chicken

This story is about a red chicken who wanted to read a bedtime story on his own, so he interrupts every time when his father reads the story. Papa chicken is putting the little red chicken to bed. Papa chicken agrees to read a bedtime story to the red chicken and tells his son not to interrupt.

The father starts reading Hansel and Gretel after the red chicken agrees. As the story nears the end, the little red chicken gets thrilled, interrupts in between, and finishes telling it on his own. The red chicken, then, interrupts again, when his dad reads him the stories of Little Red Riding Hood and Chicken Little. Finally, Papa chicken runs out of stories and asks the little one to read to him instead. Little red chicken starts reading a story, and within a few minutes, the dad is fast asleep, snoring into the little chickens’ bed.

Is it bedtime, Pigley pig?

This story is in a question-and-answer format. The narrator asks Pigley Pig if it is bedtime already, and each time, Pigley Pig gives funny justifications to avoid going to sleep. Pigley Pig is taking a shower when the narrator asks if it is bedtime. Pigley Pig replies that it is not, since she is still in the bath.

When asked if she has finished the bath, she says she is still drying her toes. The story goes on, with Pigley Pig coming up with various excuses to avoid bedtime. The story ends when Pigley finally falls asleep with her soft, lovable toys; Dimple the teddy bear, and Flop, the bunny.

The selfish giant

This is a story about a giant who never let the children in his garden. The giant was not in his garden for seven years. Every day, children would go and play in his garden. One day, he came back. Seeing so many children on his premises, he got angry and started building boundaries.

On the boundary, he put a note, “No Children allowed!” This made the children very sad. Soon it was time for spring. All around, the flowers bloomed and there was greenery. But, in the garden of Giant, there was no spring. It was still winter there. The giant waited and waited but there were no signs of springs.

Then, one day, while he was sleeping, he heard the sound of a bird. As he peeped through the window, he saw that the spring had finally arrived. Also, he saw a big hole that the children had made. After watching him, all the children ran away. Only one was left inside the garden. He was trying to climb the tree. The giant helped him climbed the tree.

At that moment, the giant took out the hammer and broke the wall. Since that day, the children and the giant used to play together. But every day, the giant would ask about that little boy whom he helped that day. Unfortunately, nobody knew about him. Several years passed, and the giant grew old. One day, as he was sitting near the same tree, he saw spring on one part of his garden when it was winter. There was the same child whom he helped that day. The child came to take the giant with him to heaven. That day when the children came to play, they saw the giant lying in the flower bed with a big smile.

The Hungry Mouse

This is among the best bedtime stories for kids. It talks about how greed can get people into bad situations. Once There was a mouse that was undernourished. He had grown really thin. After a lot of searching, the mouse found a basket full of corn. There was a tiny hole in the basket, through which he could just fit in. So, he crept into the basket and ate his fill of corn. However, he did not stop eating, once he was full.

The mouse ate more and more, even though he was feeling full. Now, the mouse had grown larger from all that food and could no longer fit through the hole to get out. He was worried and wondered how to escape. A rat that was passing by heard the mouse and told him that he had to wait until he had grown thin again, in order to get out through that hole. The mouse regretted being gluttonous and overeating.

A wise Parrot

Once there was a parrot in a forest. He was very handsome. His beak and wings were very pretty. His younger brother also lived with him. Both were living happily in the forest. One day a hunter kept them in a cage and went to the place. He said to the king, “O king, see this beautiful pair of parrots. I caught them in the deep forest.

Seeing their beauty I decided to bring them to you. They will add to the beauty of your palace.” The king was very happy. He gave one thousand bucks to the hunter. He kept both the parrots in a golden cage and ordered his helpers to look after them well.

They were treated as very important birds in the palace. They were served fruits and delicious food. They became the point of attraction. Even the young prince came to play with them. The parrots were very happy. They got everything without any labor. The older parrot once said to his brother, “We are highly respected in the palace and hence, quite satisfied.”

The younger brother replied, “You are right, we are getting the royal treatment. It is our destiny.” One day, a hunter brought a black monkey. The monkey was presented to the king, who asked the attendants to keep the monkey in the courtyard. The king as well as the prince were very happy to see the monkey and his amusing activities. Soon the monkey became the center of attraction.

With the arrival of the monkey, the parrots were used to be neglected. Sometimes they did not even get food. Both of the parrots knew the cause of it. The older parrot was wise and hoped that the days would change again and one should not be depressed. He comforted his brother, “Nothing is permanent in this world. Have patience till the bad days are over.” One day the monkey performed such feats before the prince that he got scared and cried, “Help! Help!” Hearing his cries, all rushed there and took the prince away.

When the king came to know about it, he ordered his men to leave the monkey in the forest. The next day, the monkey was sent to the forest. The bad days of the parrots were now over. They were treated well again. Good dishes and fruits were also served to them. They again became the center of attraction. The elder wise parrot explained the condition to his younger brother saying that time never remains the same, and one should not be depressed by the temporary unfavorable changes. The young parrot also realized the fact that nothing is permanent in the world and one should never lose patience.

Beauty and the Beast

This is one of the popular fairy tales that tell us that we should not be focused on one’s outside appearances and give more importance to a person’s good nature. Once there was a merchant who gets lost in a storm and took shelter in a castle that he found.

While leaving, he plucked a rose from the garden to gift to his daughter Bella. The castle belonged to a hideous beast, who imprisoned the merchant for trying to steal the rose.

The merchant begged to be set free and told the beast he only wanted the rose for his daughter Bella. The Beast lets him go, on the condition that his daughter will take his place and live in the castle. The merchant returned home and told Bella everything.

Bella went to live in the castle with the Beast, in place of her father. The Beast fell in love with the beautiful Bella, who realized that the Beast was of very good nature and not brutal. One day, Bella asked permission to go see her father. When she left, the Beast felt heartbroken. Bella returned to the castle, to see that the Beast was dying.

She held the Beast and cried, admitting that she loves him. All of a sudden, the Beast turned into a handsome prince. He was cursed by a wicked woman that he would remain a Beast, until a woman truly loved him, despite his hideous looks. When Bella said she loved the beast, the wicked woman’s curse was broken. The prince and Bella got married and lived happily ever after.

The Princess and the Pea

Once upon a time, there was a prince who was looking for a girl to marry. But he didn’t want to marry any old ugly girl, he was looking for a princess. He traveled around the world, looking for the one. He met a lot of princesses, but he didn’t choose anyone. The prince had to turn back home without a princess to marry, which made him very sad. One evening there was a terrible storm outside.

There were claps of thunder and flashes of lightning. In the middle of the storm, someone knocked on the gates of the castle. There was a beautiful girl standing there. Water was dripping from her hair and clothes, but she stood proudly outside the gates and claimed that she was a princess. When the Queen heard it, she quickly came up with a plan to check whether the girl was really a princess or not. She went to the bedroom and put a pea right in the middle of the bed.

Then she piled up twenty mattresses on top of the pea. That is where the girl slept for the night. The next morning they asked the princess how she had slept. “To be honest, I couldn’t sleep very well. I felt as if there was a hard bump I was lying on. Today my body is aching so badly from it”, she replied. That was the sign the Queen was looking for. Everyone understood that the girl was a true princess since she could feel the pea through twenty mattresses. Only a real princess with extremely delicate skin could have felt it. The prince finally smiled and asked her to marry him. They got married and lived happily ever after.

The Snow Queen

This is a short story of the beautiful Snow Queen who made a strange mirror. All the good things became ugly and terrible. One day, as she was taking it to heaven, it fell on the earth. It was broken into many pieces. The pieces went into many people’s eyes and hearts. In a village, there lived two best friends, Kai and Gerda. Unfortunately, it went into Kai’s eyes and heart. He was now very rude to Gerda. This made Gerda so sad that she always remained upset.

One day, Gerda saw that Kai was going with a lady who had a white face and icy hair with lots of hurdles on her way, she finally reached the Snow Queen’s castle. There, she saw Kai frozen. He was frozen and he turned blue. Gerda told me all the happy moments they spent together but nothing changed. Kai was still frozen. When she could do nothing, she began to cry.

Suddenly, her tears fell on his chest and penetrated his heart. Kai hugged Gerda. When they hugged, a bright light appeared which made the ice melt. This made the Snow queen cry and she faded away into the air. After overcoming the challenges, the two friends returned home and lived happily ever after. This story gives a message of good friends that were overpowered by the devil’s magic and melted the eternal ice also.

Enjoy reading these tales and give your kiddo a great bedtime.

So, which one would your kiddos like the most. Don’t forget to tell us in the comments.

Have a peaceful night.

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