By topic

Stories grouped by how long they take and what they leave you with — the five-minute ones, and the ones with a moral at the end.

There are two useful ways to choose a bedtime story, and neither of them is the subject. The first is time: how long until the light has to go off. The second is what you want left in the room afterwards — a laugh, a lesson, or a quiet ending.

So these groups are built on those two things. The five-minute stories are for the nights that got away from you. The stories with a moral end on something worth arguing about, and children do argue about them, which is the point.

Every story here is free to read in full detail on the page, with a picture for each part of it. Nothing needs installing to read, and there is no account.

By topic

Looking for a particular age? Here are the stories by stage

Frequently asked

Why is there no page for animal stories?: Because almost nobody looks for one. We checked what American parents actually search for, and «animal stories for kids» barely registers, while «5 minute bedtime stories» and «short stories with a moral» are asked thousands of times a month. We build the pages people look for, not the ones that would be tidy.
How do I find a story about a particular thing?: Open all stories and read the line under each title — it says what the story is about. With seventy-two of them, reading the list is faster than any filter would be.
Do you add new stories?: Yes. New ones appear in the app first and reach these pages after that.