Magical Animals at Bedtime

by Lou Keunzler

  Animals in the wild

  Take the opportunity to observe animals in nature with your child. Buy a pair of binoculars to spot birds and other small creatures without disturbing them and share regular country walks with your child. Even in the city, parks and gardens offer wonderful opportunities for wildlife spotting. If you choose early mornings or evenings for your explorations, you can be rewarded with special insights into the secret life of the animals who share our world.

  You can also show your child the amazing dexterity of birds in flight or the complex engineering skills of insects. You’ll be demonstrating all that is precious and worthy of preservation in the natural world.

  Animals at home

  Looking after animal friends at home will help your child to understand the duty of care we have to domesticated creatures. Feeding, mucking out and grooming animals are the responsibilities that go hand-in-paw with the more fun aspects of playing and stroking our furry friends. If you live in an apartment and are unable to provide a home to a cat or a dog, you and your child can still enjoy the companionship of animals through offering to walk a dog for an infirm neighbour or house-sitting for a cat owner on holiday. If you decide to provide a home for fish, please do remember that they need lots of space and an outdoor pool covered with mesh wire to protect them – this is far kinder than a cramped fish bowl. Always ensure your child empathizes with the animals that share your home.

  How to Use This Book

  To help your child get the most from the stories in this book, it’s important to ensure that she is calm and relaxed when you begin reading. Each story aims to provide a positive message and calming insights, helping your child pass gently into a refreshing sleep. To ensure the stories work their magic, take a little time to help your child become grounded and centred in the here and now. As she lies in bed, encourage your child to take three or four deep breaths and to relax her shoulders, neck and anywhere she may feel tension. You may like to massage her shoulders or temples gently to aid this process.

  It’s equally important for you to be as relaxed and calm as possible before you begin, so check that there is no lingering tension in your own body by taking some deep breaths. Try to shake off any dramas from earlier on in the day so that you are both solely concentrated on the stories.

  The stories are designed to stimulate your child’s imagination so be ready to respond to questions and explore flights of the imagination. Your child may find a story particularly resonant or appealing and want to apply it to her own life.

  These journeys of self-exploration are important so encourage them as much as possible, and then when your child is ready, gently return her to the story you’re reading.

  Each story includes three insights that endeavour to take the meaning of the tales further and help your child relate the story to her own experience in a positive and meaningful way. Encourage your child to explore the insights as she wishes and see what you both learn about your child’s world as a result. The aim is always to find ways in which to help resolve any challenges and worries from the day and bring about restful sleep.

  At the back of the book you’ll find visualizations and meditations to take your journeys further – each exercise aims to help you and your child draw closer to the natural world. You’ll also find an index of values, which pinpoints the key themes and ideas that underpin each story.

  Finally, remember that the stories in this book are for you and your child to enjoy and share together. Take the time to read slowly and remember to pause and watch how your child responds. The magic of storytelling will unfold gently for you both.

  The Princess and the Unicorn

  Relax, close your eyes and imagine you’re walking in a beautiful forest. As you make your way through the ferns that grow underfoot, you’re surrounded by tall trees and everything is dark and very quiet and still. Suddenly you see a magnificent pure white horse standing in a shaft of sunlight directly ahead. But this is no ordinary horse! This is the story of a princess who had everything she could possibly want and yet always wanted more … until she met a magical unicorn. Let’s listen to her story.

  Princess Poppy lived in a fine castle that was perched on a rocky crag at the edge of a deep, dark forest. Everyone said that Poppy was the prettiest princess who had ever lived. She had curly golden hair and eyes as blue as cornflowers and, if she could be bothered to smile, her teeth were like pearls. The problem was that Princess Poppy sulked and complained more often than she smiled. Nothing was ever good enough for her.

  “The sun is too bright this morning,” Princess Poppy moaned as she watched the maid draw back the curtains.

  “Why have I nothing new to wear?” she raged at the lady-in-waiting who came to dress her.

  “What? Only fifteen different kinds of pastries for breakfast?” she snorted at the butler at breakfast.

  Everyone at court was fed up with Princess Poppy. Even though they all worked very hard to make her happy, she never said “please” or “thank you”. If she was really cross she would scream and go red and kick her feet on the ground until she got her way.

  Although she complained all the time there was one thing Princess Poppy did like and that was riding her pony, Strawberry. Every morning she would go down to the stables and John, the stable boy, would have Strawberry saddled up and ready. But one morning when Poppy went down to the stable, Strawberry was still in his pen.

  “What’s this?” shouted Princess Poppy. “Why isn’t Strawberry ready for me?”

  John came forward and bowed.

  “I’m very sorry, my lady, but Strawberry’s hurt his fetlock. That’s his ankle, you know. He needs to rest and get better.”

  “No!” screamed Princess Poppy. “That’s not fair! I ride every morning and I’m not going to stop now!”

  “But your ladyship,” said John, “riding Strawberry will make his injury worse. He might even go lame.”

  “I don’t care,” cried Poppy. “I’ll do what I like.”

  Even though Poppy was shaking with anger John didn’t back down. “I won’t saddle him,” he said. “It’s wrong and if you think about it, miss, you’ll see that I’m right.”

  Princess Poppy couldn’t believe her ears. She went so red she looked like she might explode. But she knew she wasn’t strong enough to lift the saddle onto Strawberry’s back by herself and she couldn’t ride him bareback.

  “I’ll show you! I’ll get you into so much trouble,” Poppy yelled. She turned and ran straight into the dark forest.

  Princess Poppy ran and ran until she couldn’t run any further. At last she flung herself down in the middle of some ferns. She kicked her feet and she beat her fists.

  After a while Poppy stopped. No one was there to hear her. She looked around. She had come much deeper into the forest than she’d ever come with Strawberry. She realized, all at once, that she had no idea where she was. She had always relied on Strawberry to find the way home. Without him she was completely lost.

  And that’s when Princess Poppy became scared.

  “How do I get home?” she wondered. “Who will help me?”

  Poppy thought of the horrible things she’d said to John the stable boy. Would he look for her? And that made her think of the awful things she’d said to the lady-in-waiting and the maid and, well, practically everyone in the castle.

  “Maybe no-one will want to find me,” Princess Poppy suddenly thought. “All I do is shout at them all day long.”

  Finally Princess Poppy thought of how she’d been ready to ride poor Strawberry, even though he was injured, and she started to cry. “I’ve been so selfish. No one will come for me.” Even though there was no-one there to hear her, she whispered, “I’m sorry, John. I’m sorry, Strawberry.”

  Suddenly Princess Poppy heard a whinny. She looked up and saw, standing in the sunlight, a beautiful white horse with a single horn of silver in the middle of its forehead.

  “A unicorn!” gasped Poppy. She’d read about these creat
ures in storybooks but she had never thought they were real. Perhaps the unicorn might help her.

  “If you please,” began Poppy, as politely as she knew how. “I’m lost. Can you show me the way to my castle?”

  The unicorn bent its head toward her. And then it slowly turned and trotted down a forest path.

  Princess Poppy had to run to keep up. But she kept her eyes fixed on the beautiful pure white unicorn tail dancing before her. Soon the forest began to look more familiar. Poppy recognized an old oak tree and her castle beyond.

  “Oh, thank you!” cried Poppy. But when she turned toward the unicorn, it had disappeared.

  Princess Poppy ran as fast as she could to the stable.

  “I’m sorry for being so rude,” she said to John. “And I’m sorry, Strawberry, for being so thoughtless.”

  At first no-one at court could believe it was really Princess Poppy – she was so changed. But they grew to love their new, kind Princess and everyone agreed that she was no longer just the prettiest princess who had ever lived, she was the nicest too.

  Inspiring Insights

  • Sometimes we forget to notice all the good things in our lives. Take the time to value what you already have instead of always wanting more.

  • Being rude to people makes them unhappy. Think about how you’d like to be treated and treat other people the same way.

  • It’s important to stand up for what you know is right, like John – especially when it involves protecting another person or an animal.

  The Brave Little Firefly

  Relax, close your eyes and imagine a beautiful, tall tree with the most magnificent fiery red leaves. It stands at the edge of a forest by a tinkling stream. If you look very closely at the branches of the tree, you’ll notice hundreds of tiny lights darting among the leaves. These are fireflies! This is a story about a very brave little firefly called Flash. Let’s listen to his story.

  Flash woke up and gave his wings a good stretch. He was excited because it was his first day at Firefly School.

  “Have a good day,” said Flash’s mother as she gave him a little peck on the cheek.

  “I will,” said Flash, and he whizzed off from the patch of tall grass where they lived.

  He flew up toward the highest branches of the red tree until he spotted his best friends, Sparkle and Lightning.

  “I can’t wait to start school!” cried Flash.

  “Neither can I,” agreed Sparkle.

  “Well, let’s stop dawdling and get in there!” said Lightning. “I’ll race you!”

  Lightning easily beat them to the leafy school gates. Their first lesson was Safety in the Sky. Flash learned how to turn right and left quickly without going into a spin, and how to avoid obstacles like branches and spiders’ webs.

  “This is such fun!” laughed Flash.

  “Look where you’re going!” cried Lightning. “You nearly flew into Sparkle!”

  “Sorry, Sparkle,” said Flash. “Maybe I need a few more of these flying lessons.”

  Their next lesson was Dangerous Creatures.

  “I didn’t know bats eat us for lunch,” said Flash.

  “And breakfast and dinner, too!” added Lightning.

  “Ugh! They give me the creeps!” said Sparkle.

  Then it was time for the lesson that everyone had been looking forward to: Finding Your Fire with Miss Fullbright.

  “None of you have a fire in your tail yet,” explained Miss Fullbright, “but you will find it.”

  “How did you find your fire, Miss Fullbright?” asked Flash.

  “Well, one of my friends flew into a tree on our way home from school,” began Miss Fullbright.

  “He should have paid attention in class,” joked Flash.

  “Yes, he should,” said Miss Fullbright with a smile. “But I was able to help him, and it was while I was helping him that the fire in my tail suddenly appeared.”

  “If I help someone,” said Flash, “will I find my fire?”

  “Maybe,” replied Miss Fullbright, “but all of us are different. You’ll find your fire in your own way.”

  “But how?” asked Flash.

  “Well, you might find your fire by being very fast or very strong,” explained Miss Fullbright. “It depends on what you’re good at.”

  “I don’t know what I’m good at,” said Flash.

  “Let’s find out,” said Miss Fullbright to the whole class.

  They spent the rest of the morning doing exercises.

  “I wonder who can fly the fastest!” cried Miss Fullbright.

  Before the words were even out of her mouth, Lightning had zoomed off like a rocket. As he flew, a little orange glow appeared in his tail. Faster and faster and faster he went until the glow became a burning, golden fire.

  “You found your fire, Lightning!” cried Miss Fullbright.

  By the end of the lesson, everyone had beautiful golden fires glowing in their tails. Everyone except Flash.

  “Don’t worry, Flash,” said Miss Fullbright reassuringly. “You’ll find your fire, I promise.”

  Flash flew sadly from the leafy gates of the school.

  “Everyone’s going to laugh at me because I’m the only one without a fiery tail,” moaned Flash.

  “We’re not laughing,” said Lightning.

  “You’ll find it soon,” added Sparkle. “I know you will.”

  Suddenly there was a rustle in the leaves ahead of them, and a huge bat burst out of the branches.

  “Fireflies!” it cried, smacking its lips. “My favourite!”

  Lightning and Flash whizzed away from the bat, but Sparkle wasn’t quite fast enough.

  “Mmm … you’ll make a tasty snack,” snapped the bat as it sped toward Sparkle.

  Without even thinking, Flash swooped back toward Sparkle and shouted, “Hey, why don’t you pick on someone your own size?”

  “Good idea!” shouted the bat as it swooped away from Sparkle and started chasing Flash. “You’re certainly much bigger and juicier!”

  Flash zoomed around the red tree. The bat was close behind, and Flash could feel the air whooshing as the bat flapped its big wings. Just as the bat was about to catch him, Flash did one of the quick left turns he had learned in the Safety in the Sky lesson.

  The bat was so surprised by Flash’s sudden move that it crashed straight into the red tree.

  “Ouch!” cried the bat, as it clattered through the branches down to the ground.

  “Have a nice dinner,” giggled Flash.

  “Thank you!” cried Sparkle as Flash rejoined them. “You saved me from the bat.”

  “Wow!” exclaimed Lightning. “Look at your tail!”

  Flash peered over his wing at his tail. It was burning with the most beautiful golden fire.

  “I’ve found my fire!” whooped Flash.

  “Yes!” said Sparkle. “And you found it by being brave!”

  And at that moment, Flash was the proudest, happiest, and fieriest little firefly in the whole world.

  Inspiring Insights

  • You can learn a lot from your teachers. Flash listened carefully in class and used what he had learned to escape the bat.

  • When our friends are feeling down, they need our support. Always encourage your friends, just as Lightning and Sparkle did with Flash.

  • Sometimes our friends can do things more quickly than we can. If this happens, try not to get discouraged and lose hope.

  Cedric the Centipede

  Relax, close your eyes and imagine you’re in a beautiful garden. At the bottom of the garden there’s an old oak tree. If you bend down and look very carefully at the ground around the tree, you can see a tiny city called Bugsville. It’s inhabited not by people like us, but by insects and other crawly creatures. Let’s listen to their story.

  Everyone in Bugsville was buzzing with excitement. The city’s annual dance competition was only a day away, and all the creatures were busy practising their different dance routines.

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sp; The ladybirds were line-dancing and making beautiful patterns in the air. The grasshoppers were grooving and hopping all over the place. But one little centipede called Cedric, who had a very long body and more legs than he could count, didn’t seem very happy. Cedric’s legs never seemed to do what he wanted them to do, and every time he tried to dance he fell over with a deafening THUMP!

  “Hey, everyone! Look at Cedric!” laughed the ladybirds. “He’s invented a new dance called the Falling Over Foxtrot!”

  Cedric went bright red with embarrassment.

  “You’d better give up now,” grinned the grasshoppers. “You haven’t got a chance of winning the competition.”

  Cedric went even redder and crept away. He wanted to crawl under a stone and never come out again.

  “They’re right,” said Cedric sadly. “I just can’t dance!”

  “Can’t?” said a little voice. “Who said ‘can’t’?”

  “I did,” said Cedric. “And who are you?”

  “I’m Sonia Silkworm.” A worm with white, silky skin poked her head out from underneath a half-eaten leaf.

  “Everybody can dance,” said Sonia. “You just have to find the dance that’s right for you!”

  “All I can do is find the dances that are wrong for me,” said Cedric sadly.

  “I’m the greatest dance teacher in Bugsville,” declared Sonia. “If anyone can find your dance, I can.”

  And they got down to work. The first dance Sonia tried to teach Cedric was the Tango, but his legs got into a complete and utter tangle. Next they tried the Twist – in this dance Cedric’s legs got all jumbled up and it took all afternoon to untwist them. Finally, they tried waltzing together, but Cedric’s legs flailed about so wildly that he nearly whacked Sonia on the head. By the end of the day, Cedric was covered in bumps and bruises.

  “It’s no good!” cried Cedric angrily. “I’ll never be able to dance!” And he stamped his front feet in frustration. TAP!

  “What did you just do?” asked Sonia.

  “This!” shouted Cedric, and he stamped his feet once more. TAP!