Heartwarming bedtime stories
34 tender stories about kindness
Stories about kindness, sharing and noticing when someone needs help. They are tender rather than sad, and a few are bittersweet in a gentle way.
In Rosie Lends the Moon Her Scarf, Rosie is meant to be watching for the geese when she spots a thin Moon shivering over the barn, and climbs up to lend it her grandma’s very long scarf. Poppy’s Blanket Went to the Bear sends a small fox and her patient dad up the path by lantern to swap blankets with a lonely bear. To My Boy, on the Mountain is about a boy who lives alone on a mountain with forty goats and at last gets a letter inviting him down to the village feast, though it was meant for someone else.
Good for the end of a long day, and for talking about afterwards.
Rosie Lends the Moon Her ScarfRosie has fallen asleep three Novembers running before the geese fly over, and this year, when she should be watching the sky, she spots a shivering Moon and gives it her grandma’s scarf, which is three times too long.
The Night the Well RestedOne night a year nobody may draw from the meadow well, and the well keeper has a chalked sign, a dishcloth and one kettle of tea to get the whole valley through till dawn.
Poppy’s Blanket Went to the BearOn washday the West Wind brings a small fox the wrong blanket, one the size of a meadow, so she and her dad go up the path by lantern to find her own.
Hattie and the Hundred and Twelve StepsHattie is a very old tortoise who lives at the bottom of a lighthouse, and she has spent a whole winter working out how to get up a hundred and twelve steps to watch the star come down.
The Jar Marked Sable LosingOn the last windy evening of the season, Pip Underweather climbs Whistling Ridge with two empty jars: one for the long note the ridge sings once a year, and one for the sound of Sable losing at cards, which nobody has heard in three years.Ruby Folds Up the DayIn a house where the day hangs on the washing line every evening, a girl who can only fold things into lumpy triangles wants to keep the funniest hour of all under her pillow.
The Pot of SummerUnder a snowy meadow, a young mole keeps a whole summer in a teapot with no spout, and now he has to make it last through the longest night of the year.
Nell Spins a Puddle CloudNell is learning to spin clouds on her Granny’s wheel, and her little brother Bo needs just one puddle for his brand-new red boots.
Selene’s Best MistakesFor forty years Pell has hidden something lovely inside every airship envelope except one, and now, with the old grey Patience flying her last season, Pell climbs Selene’s stair to ask for the one lining worth the wait.
To My Boy, on the MountainThe valley’s postman is the Wind, which is old and a little hard of hearing, and one winter it brings a letter addressed “To my boy, on the mountain” to a boy who has never been invited anywhere.
The Girl Who Hummed the Giantess to SleepThe giantess who is also the village hill hasn’t slept in a hundred years, and the anvils, choirs and horns sent up to help only keep her awake, so the quietest girl in the village has an idea.
Ivy’s First FootprintsIn a valley where footprints in the snow glow gold after dark, Ivy has waited all autumn to make the very first footprints down her lane.
Hattie and the Moon in a JarNine-year-old Hattie has a perfect timetable for her first night in charge of bedtime, but her little brother won’t go to sleep while his jar of moonlight is nearly empty.
The Foal Who Set the Last LanternFen the foal has legs that are always in a hurry, and tonight he wants to hang the very last lantern, filled with pink sunset from a jam jar that smells of plum.
A Letter for the Snow BearHis grandma’s post office has a hundred-year-old rule, “posted today, delivered today,” so when his little sister posts a crayon letter to the Snow Bear at five minutes to closing, Tom has until midnight to carry it up the mountain to a bear he isn’t sure is real.
Milk Lends Her PurrAn old farm cat wakes up to find her famous purr missing (on her farm, a purr is a warm thing you can pick up and carry), so she asks every animal in the yard to help her look.