29 Classic and Funny Short Bedtime Stories for Kids

It is always good to develop reading habits among kids. This not only improves their vocabulary but enhances its knowledge database.

Best Free Kids Stories Apps (Check it Now)

Finding time for reading can be quite tricky in between all study time and play time.

How about reading at least a story during bedtime? It would be good if parents invoke interest for story reading in kids from early days itself so that it becomes a habit over time.

In the younger days, parents can start off by telling them good stories while they listen to it and fall asleep.

Slowly change it by giving them interesting story books and ask them to read a story a day before sleep.

Choose them the right set of books suitable for their age. Here we are sharing a few among the many awesome short bedtime stories for kids:

1. Peace At Last

This is a funny bedtime story of Mr. Bear, Mrs. Bear, and Baby Bear. One day night they all felt sleepy and decided to go to bed.

However, Mr. Bear was not able to find a peaceful place to sleep. As his wife was snoring, he couldn’t sleep in the room and go to the baby’s room.

The baby was pretending to be an airplane and making noise. He then moved to live room, then to the kitchen, to garden and car. When he finally found a place, it was morning!

Get FREE Time Table Apps  (Check it Now)

2. The Paper Bag Princes

This is the story of Princess Elizabeth who is rich with beautiful clothes and shoes. She got engaged to Prince Ronald and one day a dragon attacked the castle and burns everything including her clothes and took away the prince.

The Princess found a paper bag and wore it and got out of the castle to rescue the prince.

She used all her intelligence to outsmart the animal and rescued the prince. Ronald was disgusted to see her in a paper bag and asked her to get well dressed.

Elizabeth was shocked by his attitude and calls off the marriage.

3. Foolish Lion and Clever Rabbit

This is a famous Panchatantra story which tells us how being clever can save you despite your strength.

The merciless lion who claimed to be king of the forest killed all animals of the jungle for no reason.

All animals approached him and promised him that one animal will be sent to him every day as his meal and he agreed.

The story revolves around the day when a clever rabbit was sent to the lion as a meal and how he used the trick to save himself and the entire forest from this merciless lion.

4. Interrupting Chicken

This is a funny bedtime story about a chicken that interrupts every time his father tells him a story.

One day his papa took him to bed for sleep and chicken asks to tell a story. His father agreed to tell a story asking him not to interrupt for which he agreed.

He started the story of Hansel and Gretel which chicken interrupted and then he told another story which he interrupted and so on.

At last his father went out of stories and asked chicken to read out a story himself. As soon as chicken started reading a story, Papa fell asleep in the bed.

5. The Going To Bed Book

This is a simple narrative book that teaches kids about what to do after nightfall in a story way. The evening has come and the sun has set and all the animals were ready to sleep.

The animals went one by one downstairs to boat’s deck and took bath and changed into pajamas. They brushed the teeth, stretched their body and did light exercises.

Finally, they got into bed and fell asleep as the boat moved with the gentle waves of the sea.

6. Princess Jasmine’s Story

This is a bedtime story about a princess, Jasmine who wants to marry her true love and not the prince chosen by her father. She ran away from home and met Aladdin and she was impressed and became friends.

But the king’s minister put him in jail where he found a magic lamp and carpet.

Even when the minister tried to take it away from him, he got it with the help of the monkey and escaped.

The genie in the lamp made him a prince and he met Jasmine and fall in love. At last, Jasmine married her true love.

Get FREE Time Table Apps  (Check it Now)

7. The Lion kin

Lion King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi had a baby cub Simba. The king’s brother wants the kingdom and killed the king and scares Simba away. Thereafter he lived in a vast jungle and made friends there and grows up protecting each other.

Once he meets his childhood sweetheart Nala who told him about the sad state of the kingdom now. When wise baboon Rafiki persuades him, he goes back to fight his uncle and regain the kingdom. He then succeeds as a good king with the help of his friends.

8. The Dragon and The Princess

This is a funny bedtime story of a princess who hates to be one and never liked to dress up, comb her hair to be presentable.

She often played mean tricks to trouble the old knight and grew up as a bad example. A dragon once came near kingdom and lived in a cave.

In order to trouble the old knight, the princess went to the dragon and asked to capture her.

She was astonished to see that she is gentle, calm and plays the piano.

They soon realized that they are opposite in nature and decide to exchange the places and they lived happily thereafter.

9. The Kettle Who Gave Birth

Nasreddin Hodja is an intelligent and shrewd man. Once he admired a neighbor’s kettle a lot and thought to take it himself with a plan.

He asked his neighbor to give the kettle for one day as he had guests. He didn’t return it after many days and the neighbor came home angry at him.

Hodja said that the Kettle gave birth to a small kettle and gave him both kettles and the neighbor was happy.

Hodja again went to ask for kettle saying the reason of guests at home. Neighbour was more than happy to give it.

He didn’t return it for many days and neighbor came home asking for it. Hodja funnily replied that the kettle passes away and he buried it.

The case was taken to court and Hodja said “If a kettle can give birth, it can die too” and the whole court laughed out loud.

10. A Color Of His Own

The author tries to convey the message that you won’t feel alone when you meet a person of your kind through the story of the chameleon.

Once a chameleon was sitting on the back of the tiger when he got the tiger’s color. He was sad that every animal got their own color but he doesn’t have. He then tried to get the color of his own.

He jumped on to a leaf when he became green and he turned brown when autumn came.

He then fell on the grass and became green. At last, he met another chameleon with the same fate and decided to stay together so that he won’t be alone.

11. The Mouse That Roared

Once there was an old man who lived in a hut with magical powers and used to meditate all day long. One day a mouse came running to ask for help as a fox was chasing him.

The old man used his magical powers to turn him into a tiger. Thus the mouse was saved from the fox but he used his new appearance to torture other animals and killed them unnecessarily.

At the same time he was also worried that if the old man finds about his deeds, he might change him into a mouse again.

So he decided to kill the old man who was meditating but he managed to turn him into a mouse again before that.

The old man said that he deserves to stay his life as a mouse again as he was not thankful to the person who helped him.

12. The Mice That Ate Iron

This funny tale tells the story of two friends, Naduk and Bondu. Naduk was a rich businessman but all of a sudden his business collapsed.

He sold all his possessions to pay off debt and went to another place. Before going, he gave an iron beam to his best friend Bondu to keep till he returns.

Naduk came back rich one day and asked for the ion beam. Bondu lied that mice ate the iron.

He didn’t question his friend and asked his son to come along with him to collect some gifts.

Naduk locked him up and said to Bondu that a hawk carried his son away. Bondu accused his friend of lying and case went to court when he realized that Naduk was proving his lie about mice eating iron in a funny way.

13. Sleepless King

It is a funny bedtime story of a king who was not able to sleep a night. The queen was working all day and got tired and fell asleep immediately.

But the king was not able to sleep for hours and came out of his bed asking for help.

The royal treasurer gave him a piece of polishing cloth telling that he usually dozes off while cleaning the treasure. The king tried that for a while but was not sleepy.

He went to the kitchen and cook asked him to knead the dough to fall asleep.

The king tried it also but for no use. Then he went to a gardener who asked him to cut the grass to get tired and sleep but for no use.

The queen wakes up to see all this and asked the king to lie in bed. She gave him a glass of milk and read him a bedtime story when the king fell asleep.

14. Oh, The Places You’ll Go

This is an awesome good read which shares a lot of values to kids. It comprises colorful illustrations and beautiful verses which are appealing to kids.

The author beautifully discusses the different stages of life, choices to make and situations they have to handle.

He also inspires kids to move on in life and make them understand that life is not about always having fun.

The book is an amazing choice to make kids understand that life is a balance of good and bad and how to enjoy life responsibly.

Know More: Top 12 Motivational Stories For Students To work Hard.

15. The Brahmin’s Dream

These interesting bedtime story for kids remind kids that it is always good to have dreams in your life.

However, to achieve it, you have to stop dreaming and act towards achieving your dreams. In this plot, a Brahmin who used to beg for a living once got a pot full of flour.

He kept it beside his bed and fell asleep dreaming about how this pot is going to bring him good luck.

He dreamt about a rich and prosperous life that he is going to make out of it and how the king would give his daughter to him seeing his success.

Finally, he dreamt of beating his kids with a stick and accidentally broke this pot flour. With this story, you can advise kids to never build castles in the air.

16. Guess How Much I Love You

It was bedtime  for two rabbits, daddy Big Nutbrown and kid Little Nutbrown.

The kid asked the daddy “Guess How Much I Love You.” When daddy was clueless, the little one said ‘this much’ by stretching his hand for which daddy also responded the same way by stretching his long hands.

Then kid reaches his hands up and said he loves him as much as he can reach and daddy also did the same. Then baby told daddy “I love you right up to the moon.” The daddy kissed him on the forehead and said: “I love you to the moon and back.” Finally, the kid rabbit fell asleep.

17. Poindexter Makes A Friend

This is an awesome bedtime story for kids who are shy of making new friends. Poindexter is a piglet who was shy but loves to read.

He spends time with stuffed animal friends and reads to them. He often goes to a library where he finds a place to sit calm and read.

One day he met a shy turtle, Shelby at the library. He helped her to find a book on making friends.

Soon they started talking and discussed what they like and don’t like and became friends. Thereafter they spent a lot of time together at Poindexter’s house.

18. The Princess and the Pea

Once there lived a young prince who wants to marry a ‘real’ princess. He went on a journey to find his mate but unfortunately came back to the kingdom disheartened.

One fine day, there came a princess to their kingdom on a rainy day with her hair and dress drenched.

The queen decided to test if she was a real princess to help his son. So she kept a pea on the bed and kept 20 feather pillows and 20 soft mattresses on top of it and welcomed her to sleep.

When she woke up the next day, she complained of something hard hitting on her back while sleeping.

Now the queen understood that she was the real princess his son was looking for because who else can be so delicate!

19. The Intelligent Merchant

This is a bedtime story about a cunning and unjust king and an intelligent and shrewd merchant.

The king used his power to tax his subjects and some sycophants always supported his deeds.

The merchant was not at all happy with this and expressed his views at many times. The king was annoyed with the merchant and was waiting for a turn to let him down.

Once the merchant told that intelligence was enough for a person to live. The king was really angry with him and asked him to prove it within a month.

Upon request, he was given only a weighing scale. The interesting story is about how the merchant survived using just a weighing scale and used his intelligence to prove that he is right.

20. Goodnight Gorilla

This is a funny bedtime story about a naughty gorilla in a zoo. The zookeeper goes for nightly rounds every day to see that all animals are sleeping in the cages.

He starts off with the cage of the naughty gorilla. One day gorilla took the keys from the zookeeper while he came to check and then freed all animals.

All of them went to zookeeper’s bedroom and settled down. His wide wake up to see all the animals in the room and guide them back to cages.

However, the gorilla and his friend mouse find their way back to the cottage where they finally fell asleep.

21. The Book With No Pictures

This is a hilarious book with no pictures that makes the kids burst into laughter. The author starts off by saying that a book can be fun even if it doesn’t have any pictures.

He also tries to make the reader feel good by saying that the reader is smart to choose this book even if there are no pictures.

The author makes it clear at a later point that the book is meant to make the kids say silly things which would sound ridiculous.

22. George And Martha

This is a simple bedtime story about the friendship of two hippos George and Martha.

From many experiences, they learned that if the friendship is real, friends should always tell the truth to each other. Regardless of how ordinary they are, they used to spend happy time together.

The story also tells the fact that even the best friends’ need privacy at some points of life. The author also tries to say that friends should always see the brighter side of one another and cheer them up.

Know More: 24 Moral Stories For Kids

23. The King And The Drum

There was a king who was always attentive to his looks, dressings, ornaments, and hairstyle.

He never bothered to hear the problem of people. But he had one big secret which only the barber knows; yes, he has donkey’s ears.

He threatened the barber that he would be executed if he spills this secret. The barber spent sleepless nights not talking to anyone but told this secret to his wife one day sitting near tamarind trees.

Later, the drummers used the branches of these trees to make the drums. During the festival, the drums beat “King has donkey’s ears”.

The barber was ordered to be executed and he told about this tamarind tree incident.

The wise man of the kingdom approached him and saved the barber saying “truth cannot be changed even if the barber is killed”. Thereafter the king ruled just and kept the drum to remind him to be good.

24. The Little Engine That Could

This interesting story conveys the message that if you think ‘I can’, then you can do it. Once there was a little train carrying toys and food to kids on other parts of the mountain.

On the way, the train got stuck and couldn’t move forward. The toys came out of the train and asked for help from a passenger engine and freight engine but didn’t get any help.

There came a small blue engine which said ‘I can’. They together moved the train forward and managed to give toys and food for the kids on the mountainside on time.

25. Is It Bedtime Wibbly Pig?

The cute bedtime story revolves around the cute and funny excuses told by Wibbly when asked to go to bed. First, he asks if Wibbly was ready to sleep when Wibbly replied that he was bathing.

He called Wibbly again after some time and Wibbly replied: “No, I’m still drying my toes.” The narrator keeps on asking questions and Wibbly continuously tells some cute excuses. The story ends when Wibbly falls asleep with her cuddle buddies!

26. Bob and Otto

This is a bedtime story of two worms Otto and Bob that tells the importance of good friendships.

On a spring day, Bob expressed his desire to climb the tree to see life from a top angle but Otto preferred to dig deeper into the ground.

They fell asleep and after some days, they woke up to see that Bob has become a beautiful butterfly while Otto was the same.

When they met next time, Otto was insecure thinking his friend got a beautiful appearance.

However, Bob said that Otto was the reason for who he was today. It is just because he dug the soil, it got loosened, the roots got more water and tree grew to sprout green leaves.

27. The Musical Donkey

The donkey is always portrayed as an animal with no brain despite hard work. This story helps kids to understand the importance of intelligence in addition to hard work.

It revolves around friendship of a jackal and a donkey and how they used to steal from the field every night after tiring day time work.

Despite jackal’s advice, the donkey sang out loud one day after the feast and got beaten by farmers. Jackal teased him for his ‘no brain’ moment and gave a message “there is a time and place for everything”.

28. Harold And The Purple Crayon

This is a simple bedtime story that invokes imagination in kids during their bedtime. Harold was not sleepy one day and decided to go out to see moon but there was no moon.

He took his crayons and draws a moon and then a straight line and walked through it.

Then he cuts it to a road that went to farmland and woods where there was an apple tree. Then he draws a scary monster to guard the tree. He continues his adventure by framing a story out of it by drawing ocean, boat, mountain, hot air balloon and finally fell asleep.

29. I’m Bored

This is a funny bedtime story about a girl whining about being bored. However, the situation changed all of a sudden when the girl met a potato.

The potato told the girl that he is bored and the girl asked the reason. The potato replied that it is because he is with kids and kids are boring.

The girl argued that kids can never be boring and they are funny. The potato ask her to prove it and she listed about the fun activities they can have like cartwheels, spin around, skip, play games, walk on hands , ninja kick and more. This story is a gentle reminder for kids who are whining about being bored.

Some of these stories not only improves their vocabulary but gives awesome messages for life.

Stories are one of the best ways to share and develop good moral values in kids in a creative way. These stories are sure to take them to a world of fantasy, inspiration, emotion, courage, and messages.

Moreover, there is no better way than interesting stories that make their bedtime more joyous and help them have a good night sleep.

Get FREE Time Table Apps  (Check it Now)