← Koala Moon: Kids Bedtime Stories & Sleep Stories for Kids Podcast
Koala Moon: Kids Bedtime Stories & Sleep Stories for Kids Podcast
Forrest & Brooke Visit The Pygmy Hippos 🦛💕 Calm Kids Story For Sleep
00:32:59
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- [00:11]
Narrator
Hello and welcome back to Koala Moon, a podcast of original children's bedtime stories and meditations designed to make bedtime a dream. When was the last time you went to the zoo? If it's been a while or never, that's perfect. Because in our story tonight, you'll experience, along with our lovely friends Forest and Brook at close range, the excitement and delight of walking around and seeing animals up close. You'll even meet the cutest of cute baby pygmy hippos with a very familiar name. Let's see if you know why he gets called Harry. Before we begin, a quick message for the grown ups. If you'd like to support our podcast, enjoy ad free listening, unlock four bonus stories per month and much, much more, you can join Koko Club, subscribe in just two taps via the link in the show notes, but now here's a quick word from our sponsors before we settle in for tonight's sleepy story. Here's something for the grown ups and for our little dreamers who love big adventures with Groupon. It's easier than ever to make magical memories together. If your little one has ever wished they could leap into a Koala Moon adventure, like taking a ballet class with Koko and Kira or riding the monorail with Hector and Sunny, Groupon might just have the real world version waiting for you. From trampoline parks and pottery classes to petting zoos and planetarium visits, Groupon helps families discover amazing activities all at prices that make it easier to say yes to fun. So when the sun comes up and those curious feet are ready to explore, just open the Groupon app and see what surprises are nearby. I've taken a peek already and I'm super excited about what's coming up this summer. For a limited time only and exclusively for our Koala Moon listeners, you can use code MOON30 to get 30% off when checking out at Groupon before May 31. That's code MOON30 for real life, fun and at fairytale prices. Groupon Adventure is just around the corner.
- [02:21]
Elio
It is estimated that over 4 million people have been abducted by alien life forms, but only one of them asked for it.
- [02:29]
Narrator
This is Elio of Earth. If any aliens are listening, come and.
- [02:32]
Elio
Get me from Disney and Pixar.
- [02:34]
Narrator
Yes, it's really happening.
- [02:35]
Elio
He'll go where no one has gone before.
- [02:38]
Narrator
Welcome to the community. This is the most beautiful place I've ever seen.
- [02:43]
Geoffrey
This is the bathroom.
- [02:46]
Elio
Disney and Pixar's Paleo. Rated PG. Parental guidance suggested only in theaters June 20.
- [02:51]
Geoffrey
Hey parents Geoffrey here. If you love the stories on Koala Moon and need a little help falling asleep yourself, I have just the thing introducing my show Nightfalls, where I read original and classic bedtime stories specially crafted to help busy people and minds fall asleep effortlessly. Each story slows check, gently guiding you to sleep. We'll go on mystical journeys through my series the Falls, where I share enchanting tales from my past, exploring the magic of the falls and the unique people I've met along the way. I'll also share classic nostalgic stories around the fire, like Winnie the Pooh. With Night Falls, you'll drift off to sleep easily and wake up refreshed, so search Nightfalls on all podcast platforms. That's Night Falls and Hit follow so when it's time for bed, you'll find the show easily. I'll see you there.
- [03:50]
Narrator
Firstly, jump into bed if you're not there yet and get comfy under your covers. Maybe stretch and wriggle and breathe out a big whooshy sigh. Lovely. I'm going to get started right away as I can't wait to meet up with our old friends. This is Forest and Brook. Visit the Pygmy Hippos by Jane Thomas do you remember two old friends of ours, Forest and Brook? We visited the Sweet shop with them once a while ago. Perhaps this will help jog your memory. Forrest lives behind the blue door at number 42 and is always seen with a pair of binoculars hanging round his neck that he uses to identify birds that are little more than a distant speck in the sky. Whenever Forest and Brook are together, he invariably has one of his hands on the back of her wheelchair, which is more to stop him wandering off and getting lost looking for a bird than anything else. And Brooke? She lives behind the red door at number 44. She's always picked first for basketball, while Forrest is always picked last, and they are the very best of friends. If anyone who's met Brooke is asked to describe her, they will always say brilliant at basketball, tells the funniest and silliest jokes you've ever heard, and can eat a slice of pizza faster than any anyone else in the world. Today is a rather wonderful day for Forest and Brook, and come to that for you, because you're going with them on a visit to the local zoo. It's where Brook's mother works as a vet, meaning she knows a good deal about elephant toothache and how to treat a hippo's headache and just what to do when a tiger feels as if his stripes are Fading. Brook's mother, Etta, has helped eagles learn to fly, giraffes to stretch their legs out so that they can bend forwards for a drink of water, and lizards climb even the highest of trees. She's a gentle, forgetful, scatterbrained soul who's promised for the last four weekends in a row that Brook and Forest must come with her and visit the zoo. And then she's driven off in the car and quite forgotten to check they're inside. Finally, they're taking it into their own hands. It is the fifth weekend that Etta has given a merry wave and a cheerful toot of the horn as she's backed out of the driveway and headed off to the zoo. The fifth weekend when she has quite forgotten her promise. So you and Brook and Forrest are going on the bus. You could walk, but it's a little bit too far. And besides, the bus is pretty entertaining. It's one of those ancient buses, big and bulbous and friendly looking on the front. And to be honest, the driver is also sort of big and bulbous and friendly looking too. The special step is lowered and raised and you all three sit in that area towards the front where there's space for Brook's wheelchair and turn your attention to the world outside. Forrest keeps raising his binoculars as you rumble past trees dotted with bird nests and you and Brooke nod your heads as he points out sparrows and robin, redbreasts and magpies. Three for a girl. Brook mumbles beneath her breath as she counts them. And then a barn owl surprises you all by being out during the daytime, heart shaped white face unmistakable as it sweeps on silent wings towards the woods. People with shopping bags and baskets get on and off the bus and older children go all the way to the back to take up residence there, because for some reason older children must always, always sit at the back of buses. Ms. Dewdrop from the sweet shop gets on and smiles at you all, reaching into her handbag for little twists of paper wrapped sweets that taste of strawberries and starlight. And then there is nobody left on the bus but you and Brook and Forest as it makes its final stop along the end of a lane that is made into a green tunnel by trees that drape from either side. The zoo is called Roars and Claws, which is quite a dramatic name. And written underneath, in a bid to make it sound a little friendlier perhaps, is the subtitle Spots and Stripes and Furry Types. The lady at the counter recognises all three of you and waves you through, calling to Brook that you Must be sure to pass by the Hippo Lake before you leave for the day. Etta, she says, has something extra special there. There are two ways of dealing with extra special things. Either you rush and have that first of all, or you wait and delay and savour it, building up to something extra special. It's like that with eating when on your plate are your absolute favourite roast potatoes alongside your least favourite GRE beans. And either you get the green beans over and done with and then enjoy the potatoes, or you eat the potatoes in a flash and then need to work your way through those green beans. Very few people in this world are smart enough to bounce back and forth between the potatoes and beans. A bit of good balanced with a bit of bad. And it is extremely rare to have three people in one place and all subscribe to the rule that the best should be left to last. But you, Brook and Forrest all agree the Hippo Lake will be the last place you visit today. As it turns out, Mrs. Diamond and her scatterbrained approach to life has accidentally done you all a favour by forgetting to bring you here. For weeks in a row, the animals have had time to give birth to a whole load of babies, and the zoo is absolutely bursting with newborn creatures waiting to be oohed and ahed. Over the first area of the zoo is this rather wonderful safari section. Visitors go up a path that winds back and forth through the trees, raising them higher and higher with each turn, until finally they're on a platform that runs some 20 metres above the ground. This platform extends for over a mile, weaving its way across grasslands and past trees. The first animals you see are a tower of giraffes, five of them, walking slowly and steadily across the plain. With each step, their heads bob to and fro on the end of their long necks. Surrounded by the four larger giraffes is a newborn who's barely taller than your front door back at home, unsteadily following the others and wobbling from side to side as he goes. They're heading towards a particularly green group of trees, leaves rustling invitingly in the warm breeze, and their long tongues wrap delicately around the clusters of leaves that they pull gently from the branches. Further along are a dazzle of zebras, black and white stripes, looking for all the world as if they've all climbed into matching pyjamas. The youngest ones are tiny, spindly legs, wobbling as much as the young giraffe, and their tufts of hair are fluffed up in the wind. Three zebras are running around and round A mud bath, legs getting blacker and blacker with each trip around the pool as the mud rises and splatters, and then one slips and slides and sprawls his way across the mud, and it seems as if the rest of them all pause what they're doing to laugh at their friend, who throws himself into a pool of water to emerge once more with those perfect black and white stripes back on show. And finally you see the herd of elephants, with one elephant so tiny he can stand beneath his mother's belly, his face and body still dotted with stiff black hairs and tiny trunks swinging up and down, up and down, as he trots along and tries to keep up with the long, slow, steady steps of his mother and family. He dares to rush out and come towards you, waving his trunk and ears as he does, skidding to a halt with a puff of dust rising around him and then rushing back to the safety of his mother, who tucks him beneath her once again and continues on her way. These are the gentle giants of the bush, the ones who wander unbothered through the bushes and undergrowth, leaving behind nothing but footprints so large you could curl up inside them. Once the end of the platform is reached, there is another series of walkways that go back and forth through the trees with each turn, easing you a little closer to ground level. Forrest holds onto both handles of Brooke's wheelchair and she has her hands ready near the wheels, and this is one of the few times he puts down the binoculars and concentrates on what he's doing, easing his best friend towards the safety of the flat ground. You pass by trees that dance with the rustles of apes and monkeys and baboons, and see sloths sleepily clinging to branches, arms wrapped around as they consider whether it's worth moving for tea time. Or perhaps they will just stay there, right where they are. There are lemurs with huge eyes looking back at you. And then you're walking through the Australia zone, where you try to count kangaroos as they bounce around in the distance. It's a little like counting sheep, watching them leap over a small bush one by one, and the mesmerizing motion captures you. So for a few minutes, so you're quite still, mouth open, seeing one kangaroo, two kangaroos, three kangaroos, four, five, six. Brook tugs at your arm to point out a platypus diving into the lake, and alongside is a baby platypus that you proudly tell her is called a puggle. And there are wombats whose fat little bottoms wiggling their way along a path. Then a lady named Katie hands you a koala, and before you know what is happening, you're holding a koala who is fast, fast asleep and who nuzzles into your shoulder with soft koala snores. You hold the koala for a while, listening to her sleeping and feeling that softness against you, and then you hand her over to Brooke, and the koala nestles into her lap, her head resting against Brook's arm, and Katie laughs and says she thinks the koala would happily stay there forever. She looks so very comfortable snuggled down. Forrest reminds Ewan Brook that there are penguins to be seen, and reluctantly, the dozing koala is handed back, and the three of you head further into the zoo, finding the crystal clear pool with the high cliffs where the penguins live. The animals are so funny on land, waddling awkwardly with their little wings tucked stiffly at their sides, beaks pointing sharply into the air. And then suddenly they launch themselves into the water, where they sweep and glide and are transformed into something so very, very different. And Brook laughs and says she must be part penguin, because without her wheelchair she moves so awkwardly, too, but with it she can sweep around the basketball court and claim every corner as her own. And Forrest thinks about it and says he must be part elephant then, because he wanders slowly through life without a care in the world. And they both turn to you as you think about which animal you must be, like running them through your head and choosing which one best fits with the way you see the world. Beyond the penguins, there are seals, gorgeous rolls of grey blubber shimmering in the sunshine, delighting everyone by balancing red balls on the very tips of their shining black noses, whiskers sparkling with drops of water that seem as if they have landed as diamond. And the baby seals, all fluffy and white with big black eyes, are curled up next to their mothers. Then Sarah, the lady who works with the seals, spies Brook, and you are invited in. And suddenly you're kneeling down, and there's a baby seal on your lap, and he's nuzzling into you, pushing stiff black whiskers against your shirt, and a damp nose sniffs your neck, and those big black eyes look at you as perfect pools of shining darkness. Next, Sarah guides you all to another pool, and suddenly you're in a huge room where there is a pool surrounded by rocks. On the rocks is a walrus with a huge moustache just like the bristles of a broom. And beside her is a baby walrus, all pink and new, leaning up on its two front flippers and blinking out at the world, a place that is all strange and new and wonderful. As you watch, the mother walrus pulls herself towards the pool and throws herself in and the baby walrus copies what she's done and then the mother walrus is in the water and holding her baby before her so he can float and swim. Then there's the lazy river and the three of you find yourselves in huge rubber rings floating towards the hippo pool where Etta awaits your arrival and Brook is laughing and splashing the water with her hands and then leaning back to float silently above the gently swirling water. When you arrive at the end someone has been kind enough to bring the chair and Forrest lifts her and places her gently back and then Etta is there and she presses a finger to her lips and tells you to follow her as quietly as you can, so you tiptoe as gently as you are able, exaggerating the movements, hardly daring to breathe as you follow her towards a room that is very much closed off to other visitors but very much open to you and forest, thanks to her being Brook's mother. It is quite dark inside and it takes your eyes a while to adjust to the light, but then you see a shape rising and falling and you think for a moment that perhaps it's a hippo, but it can't be a hippo as they are much, much larger than that, surely? Its a pygmy hippo, whispers Etta, and then she points to the side. And look, she says, spoken as proudly as if she were the hippo itself, a brand new baby pygmy hippo. She was born barely an hour ago. Isn't she beautiful? You tiptoe a little closer, as close as you dare, and Brook wheels her chair to be next to you now, and Forrest is leaning over her to see as well, and then you can see it, an adorable shining creature with little ears that stick out and a snout that snuffles and eyes that sparkle. He's nuzzled close to his mother, who looks as proud as Etta sounded when she spoke. Etta looks at the mother, who almost seems to nod, and she reaches forwards to pick up the tiny shining baby and places him gently on Brook's lap, where just as the koala had done, the newborn hippo nuzzles in and instantly makes himself at home. You lean down to stroke the baby's head and your hand slips easily across the skin that is pink in one place and brownish grey in another, and the hippo snuffles in his sleep. He is, you find out the first pygmy hippo to be born at Paws and Claws, and one of the first in the whole country, in fact, and the baby seems to smile in his sleep as if to say, yes, he's important and he knows it. There is a mark on his forehead, something of a zigzag, and Forrest asks if he can name the hippo, and Etta smiles and says of course he needs a name, and Forrest, running his finger along the zigzag, says he should be called Harry, and then Etta brings you a little board and a piece of chalk and you write the name Harry on it and you take it outside into the sunshine and hang it alongside his mother's name. At the entrance to the hippo pools, you add the date underneath so everyone can see when Harry was born, and a few people who are standing nearby look over and then clap quietly, and you smile and wave at them before disappearing back inside, feeling terribly important, because you are one of the first people in the whole world to see this tiny pygmy hippo and listen to his gentle snuffling snores as he sleeps. Brook's mother may have forgotten to take you there, but she does remember to drive you all home. The car is warm and the seats are soft and the sun is lowering in the sky, and you watch as birds return to their nests for the evening and the sunflowers turn their heads to the ground, and the whole world, it seems, is preparing itself for sleep. You feel your head nodding down as you are driven along and looking across, you see that Forrest beside you is fast asleep, his head tipped back, his hands still wrapped around his binoculars, as if he's ready to look at something the moment he wakes. And in the front, Brooke is sleeping too, curled up with a blanket across her knees, the one you helped make last year, with all the pieces of your favourite clothes from over the years coming together to wrap her up in memories. Etta is humming to herself as she goes, occasionally smiling and chuckling as she says, Harry, but of course, perfect name. At work her hands were bare and sensible, scrubbed down with soap and a brush, but now she's heading home. She's once more threaded her rings back in place, a gold band resting on one finger and purple and red and blue and green jewels shining on others. The road is easier, quicker in the car, but you almost miss the friendliness of the bus and the watching of strangers going about their day. You try and peer into the other cars you see, guessing the days the people have had, everyone who isn't driving, looks satisfied and tired, as if they have exhausted the day and drained everything from it, returning home with parcels and packages by their sides or bundles of towels that will drop tiny sparkles of sand when they're unrolled at home, or boots that will leave a muddy trail unless they're carefully left behind. At the front door you see a lady with a book resting on her lap staring out of the window as if she's running the story over and over in her mind, flashes of smiles appearing on her face as she remembers a particular moment. First of all, Etta drops off Forest and he turns and waves from the pathway before he disappears behind the blue door of number 42, and then she takes you home and you climb out of the car and Brooke is just awake enough to offer a sleepy goodbye and you wave as the car disappears down the lane and you head inside. You want to tell everyone about Harry the pygmy hippo and holding a sleeping koala and stroking the softest, whitest seal with stiff black whispers, but somehow it feels as if your feet have been replaced with lead weights and instead you walk slowly, as if in a daze to your room and climb beneath the covers. Pillow is wonderfully cool as you rest your head on it, sinking into its softness, and you pull the blankets up to your chin and curl up as if you are really a question mark. And tonight it is easier than ever to disappear into wonderful dreams because you've seen giraffes ambling by and zebras playing in the mud and a baby elephant hiding beneath the safety of his mother's belly, and sloths sleeping in trees and a baby walrus learning to swim and touched the shining smoothness of the tiny hippo that had only just come into the world. Some days, it seems, were just, just meant to be transformed into dreams. Sam.