← Koala Moon: Kids Bedtime Stories & Sleep Stories for Kids Podcast
Koala Moon: Kids Bedtime Stories & Sleep Stories for Kids Podcast
Immy's New BFF 👯💞 Friendship Bedtime Stories for Kids
00:33:34
Loading summary
Transcript13 lines
- [00:11]
A
Hello and welcome back to Koala Moon, a podcast of original bedtime stories and sleep meditations for kids designed to make bedtime a dream. Hello, Orla, you're an app listener. You listen to Koala Moon on the sleepiest app, I think. Or are you listening to some of my other stories? I don't know. But I love that you have joined the Koko Club and so has Aria from Pennsylvania, who is 9 on August 25th. So welcome both of you. Aria and Orla, you are most welcome in here. Sit beside me. Or you can sit beside Prickles over there, Possibly the Jupiter twins when they come back. They just nipped out to have a chat with the dream givers, so we'll leave them to it. But yes, thank you for joining. Enjoy all your ad free listening from now on and your extra story every week. Oh, plus all the hundreds of stories in the back catalogue. Ooh, there's loads in there. Happy listening. Oh, I've just realised what's going on and I love it when this happens. We had a story suggestion come in from a listener called Becky and magically, Jane has developed it into a brilliant, imaginative tale. Bec we hope you like it. And the rest of you, please don't forget, all of you can give us suggestions by voice note or video using the link in the show notes as well as via Spotify comments or best of all in a review. So back to tonight. We are soon heading back to the White House. No, not that one. With Immy and Billy at their tower block home, something big is happening. Something is changing. Mrs. Fortescue is moving out. And moving in to apartment 3A is a new family who've come all the way from Zimbabwe. The curious friendly pair. That's Billy and Immy. They can't wait to meet them and make sure to welcome them to their new home. 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.
- [02:34]
B
Does your little one love the adventures of Bluey? I know I do. What if they could talk and play with Bluey Bingo or Muffin right in their own room with the all new Bluey chatmates?
- [02:47]
A
Now they can. Each figure comes to life with a.
- [02:50]
B
Press of the nose, saying 10 fun.
- [02:53]
A
Phrases straight from the show.
- [02:54]
B
Perfect for little hands and big imaginations. You can collect Bluey Bingo and muffin. Or look out for special versions like Bingo on her Scooter or Rita with a Grannymobile, complete with granny glasses and a grabber tool. They're poseable, totally adorable and ready for bedtime adventures or daytime play. And kids will love recreating their favourite Bluey moments or making up brand new ones.
- [03:22]
A
And with more characters to collect, there's.
- [03:25]
B
Always a new adventure waiting to unfold. Bluey Chatmates are available at all major retailers. This message is sponsored by Greenlight Every night here on Koala Moon, I help families wind down with bedtime stories. But you know what keeps parents up at night worrying about whether we're preparing.
- [03:46]
A
Our kids for the real world, especially when it comes to money.
- [03:49]
B
I've got a 15 year old daughter and an 18 year old son, and while some parts of parenting get easier as they grow real conversations, independence, teaching them about money remains challenging. The truth is, kids won't truly learn to manage money until they get hands on experience. That's where Greenlight comes in. Greenlight is the easy, convenient way for parents to raise financially smart kids and families to navigate life together. It's a debit card and money app made for families. Parents can send money to their kids and monitor spending and saving while kids build money, confidence and financial literacy skills. The app includes a fun chores feature for setting up tasks and rewarding kids with an allowance. When I think about doing dishes for a few cents as a kid, I realise how motivated I would have been seeing the money arrive. I remember my own kids asking me to look after their first savings money.
- [04:41]
A
From the Tooth Fairy, birthdays and their pocket money.
- [04:43]
B
What fun it would have been to see their savings grow in their own money app. I wish I'd found Greenlight sooner. Maybe that's why millions of parents trust and kids love learning about money on Greenlight, the number one family finance and safety app. Don't wait to teach your kids real world money skills. Start your risk free Greenlight trial today@greenlight.com moon that's greenlight.com moon to get started.
- [05:10]
A
Greenlight.Com moon I'm just reflecting on some of our stories and the places we've been to. And I'm thinking with Hannah Sparrow, our fierce and heroic bird watcher friend. We went to Tanzania and the Flamingo Lake. We've also just travelled to China with Chill Bill, we've been to Egypt with Coco and we've spent quite a bit of time in the USA and Australia. But we have not yet heard much about Zimbabwe. So here we go. Tuck yourselves in, get really snuggly under the blankets, do some lovely breathing exercises if you want, while I get started. This is Immi's new BFF by Jane Thomas Immy of 46B. The White House is having a good day. She and Billy are sitting with their legs threaded through the rails of her balcony, high, high up on the tower block, looking down at people the size of ants beetling around far below. There's a big blue removal truck parked in front of the building and they're getting a glimpse of all the furniture that until recently had lived alongside Mrs. Fortescue in apartment 3A. But Mrs. Fortescue is moving to a place called Brighton to be nearer her daughter. She showed Immy pictures of the place, long stretches of pebble beaches that shone when the waves splashed over them and appear stretching out into the sea. The pier, Mrs. Fortescue told her, had been there for over a hundred years, and she dug out old postcards of ladies wearing long dresses and carrying parasols walking along there whole lifetimes ago. Immy knew Mrs. Fortescue. Of course she did. She knew almost everyone who lived in the White House, and most who lived in the Blue House too, but she had never seen inside her apartment. Mrs. Fortescue was a little old lady who always wore brown brown skirts with chunky brown cardigans and thick brown tights, whatever the weather, and heavy brown shoes. If she wore a hat, it was made of felt and was brown. If she wore a coat, it was woollen and Brown. Before meeting Mrs. Fortescue, Immy had never realised so many shades of brown existed, so it was with some surprise that she watched a stream of brightly coloured furniture make its way from the entrance of the White House to the back of the blue removal truck, carried by a group of four men who wore overalls and liked to laugh a lot. Their laughter kept drifting up through the still morning air and somehow just hearing it made Immi and Billy smile too. A huge pink wardrobe the colour of fuchsias and flamingos took all four men. A yellow bedstead as bright as a canary followed close behind, sky blue settees and an armchair so red it looked as though it should belong to Santa Claus also emerged into the sunlight. And then came the pictures, huge pictures that were each wrapped in sheets, but sometimes the sheets blew aside a little in the breeze, and even from their position high up in the White House, Immy and Billy caught glimpses of jungles and vast sweeping tropical seascapes. The only brown item to emerge was a grandfather clock, the gold pendulum winking up at them as the sun bounced off it. When the last box of books had been carried out and the final rug rolled up and inserted into the back of the truck, Mrs. Fortescue followed behind, carrying her neat brown handbag. She looked up and smiled as she saw Immy and Billy watching her, waving a big, sweeping, exaggerated wave. They waved back, four hands flapping through the rails of the balcony, and before she climbed into the back of a black cab, Mrs. Fortescue turned and blew them a kiss. It seemed sad, IMM thought, that she had only just learned how truly colourful Mrs. Fortescue really was in those final moments of seeing her. She wondered who would now be installed in 3a and, assuming it would take quite a while to find out, started unthreading herself from the balcony railings. She had just stood up and started brushing off her jeans when Billy called out, hey, another truck is here. Look, Immi, it's pulling in. I think they're already here. Immi peered over the edge and watched as the yellow truck backed into the spot only recently vacated by the big blue one. It beeped as it reversed, a noise that seemed loud even all the way up here on the balcony of 46B. Two men climbed out of the front and walked round to the back of the truck, opening the doors and then sitting on a little step that folded down. Immy guessed they were waiting for instructions from the new residents, and she didn't have to wait long to discover who they might be either, because an old car rattled into the parking lot and came to a halt with a bang and a puff of black smoke from the exhaust. The driver emerged, a tall thin man with a shirt that flapped loosely about him. One by one he went to the other car doors and opened them, and Immi wasn't quite sure if this was a show of politeness or if the doors couldn't actually be opened from inside. From the front stepped a lady wearing a beautiful wrapped headdress, all blue and sparkling gold, and in her arms she held a baby, and from the back first a tiny old lady, not just tiny because they were looking down from up high, but so tiny she seemed almost to be no taller than the car was high. She wore colourful clothes, everything Mrs. Fortescue's furniture was and everything Mrs. Fortescue's clothes were not, and she bent over a walking stick. Then a girl stepped out, jeans and a jumper, braided hair tied back in a ponytail. She looked around and then up and saw Immy and Billy there, threaded around the railings of the balcony. Immy grinned and waved and the girl waved shyly back before busying herself with pulling bags and boxes from the back of the car. The furniture that went into apartment 3A was nowhere near as exciting as that which had come out. It looked old and battered, and none of it matched with each other. There were as many beds as people, a crib that was on wheels, and a handful of chairs and a table. No elaborate lamps such as Mrs. Fortescue had owned were going in. No pictures were carried, with dust sheets flapping to reveal gorgeous images. In fact, the whole operation was done within half an hour, the yellow van driving away and disappearing into the distance and the family heading inside their new home. Well, said Immy, turning to Billy, looks like we have some new people to meet. Billy grinned. Guess we'd better give them a bit of time to settle in, he said, trying to sound sensible and grown up. Immy nodded, a serious look on her face. She looked down at the car and thought about the girl, smiling shyly. Ten minutes do, she said to Billy. He nudged her in the ribs with his elbow. Exactly what I was thinking, he replied. Ten minutes can seem an awfully long time when you want it to pass. Making a sandwich took up to a whole minute. Eating it another 30 seconds. Immi changing her T shirt. Another minute, Billy standing in front of the mirror and practising, tipping his hat and saying Howdy. Another 30 seconds. Eventually they decided to walk slowly down the stairs, pausing as long as they could to check out the various plants and pictures along the way before arriving at the door of 3A. Two things already hung from the door. There was a cross swinging from a nail, and beneath that a flag that had been tacked in place. Green, gold, red, and black stripes ran across it, and there was a red star with a golden bird. Billy, the resident flag guru, immediately announced it was the flag of Zimbabwe. Immy's eyes opened wide. She'd never met anyone from Zimbabwe before. Another nationality had moved into the White House, another new world waiting to be discovered. Immy and Billy looked at each other and together leaned forwards and knocked on the door. It was opened by the tiny old lady, who was somehow even tinier than Immy had imagined. White teeth flashed a bright smile from her dark face. Saw Bona, she said. Welcome. Immi reached out her hand to introduce herself. Immi, she said, and pleased to meet you. But all the time she was peering over the old lady's shoulder, trying to see the girl who had climbed from the back of the ancient car the old lady shook the offered hand, her fingers as soft and delicate as a bird's wing in Immi's hand. You'll be after Amelia, she said, calling behind her. Amelia appeared, a shy smile on her face. Hi, said Immy. We saw you from the balcony. 46B, the one up there. Rather pointlessly, she gestured upwards. We waved at you. Yes, said Amelia. I know. There was an awkward silence. Billy even forgot to whip off his cowboy hat and say howdy. Off you go, said the old lady, pushing Amelia forwards. I am sure these two can show you around. Amelia found herself out in the hallway and the door closed softly behind Immy, and Billy led the way outside, down the turns of the stairwell and out into the bright midday sun. They pointed out the four buildings, naming the White House, the Blue House, the Pink House, before Amelia interrupted and said, let me guess. The Green House. When they got to the final one, Imm shrugged and grinned. Shame it isn't made of glass, said Amelia, and Billy burst out laughing. That's just what Immi says, he blurted out. They took Amelia across to the park, showing her the patch where kids played football on summer evenings and at weekends. They showed her the pond where they dabbled for tadpoles in the spring and the lake that froze in the winter so those who were brave enough could skate across it. They showed her the best trees for climbing to escape the summer heat and sit in the bows with a book. They showed her the swings and the slides, the cycle paths and walkways. Billy shot Immy a questioning look and she gave a quick nod, and then they showed her the special place they'd found in the wandering branches of a rhododendron so huge they could hide inside a dark green cave and not be seen by passersby as they walked down the avenue at the edge of the park that would lead them back to the tower blocks, Amelia told them it reminded her of home. Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, she confirmed. Although I guess this is home now. She looked up at the white house, a little overwhelmed by its height and closeness to the other three buildings. I came here just over a year ago now, said Immy, from 23 Buttercup Drive. I thought that was quite a change, but it's nothing like yours. Amelia smiled. She explained that her mother had got a new job up in the uk. She'd worked for years to get her nursing degree and finally been given the opportunity to go overseas. Her father was a carpenter, she said, who makes works of art from wood, and the old lady was her grandmother, a lady she called Gogo, who had lived with them since Amelia was born. Her baby brother was just a few months old. Tando, she said. His name was. It means love. What was it your grandmother, your Gogo said to us when she opened the door? Asked Immi. Sawubona, said Amelia. IMM rolled it around her mouth and tried it out. Saw. Bona. I like it. It's a lovely word, A warm sort of word. Billy tried a sower bona partner with a flick of his cowboy hat and they all laughed. He was better off sticking with Howdy. That afternoon, Immy walked back up the flights of stairs to 46B, thinking about her new friend. Amelia was going to be at the same school too, so she'd be getting the bus with them come Monday morning. Immy remembered how she'd felt all those months ago when she had first moved into the White House, and how different everything had seemed. How worried she'd been that she wouldn't belong in the way she'd felt back at Buttercup Drive. She hoped that she and Billy had been as welcoming towards Amelia as everyone had been to them, and inside she was delighted. Mrs. Fortescue with her bevy of browns, had been a lovely lady, always polite and kind, but Amelia and her family were a definite upgrade as far as Immig was concerned. She tried convincing her parents to throw a welcome party for the new family, but in the end had to settle for a compromise. They would all be invited to to dinner next week and that would have to be enough. Immi's mother fretted endlessly over what to serve, looking in books at traditional Zimbabwean recipes and flitting between one idea and the next. It was Immi who reminded her how much she loved going to the different neighbours and eating the foods of their culture. And she didn't visit Mrs. Chan or or Naia and expect to get a roast chicken from them. So, fish and chips. It was fish and chips with bright green mushy peas and a dish of tartar sauce in the centre of the table. And Amelia's family were delighted to eat something so very, very English. The bread and butter pudding that followed was one of the best Immi's mother had ever made, smothered in hot, thick yellow custard. Immi proudly showed Amelia the various doors, telling her stories of Naia and her life in India and how she cooked dishes with spices Imi had never known before. She told her of Mr. And Mrs. Chan and how they lovingly argued with each other day in, day out. And their cat she secretly referred to as Mrs. Snugglewump, and she pointed to Jemima and Simon's door and explained they were away again, travelling around Mexico for a month. You're the White House's first Zimbabwins, she said, almost proud of the fact she knew everyone in the building. In 32C, there's Mr. And Mrs. Hassan from Nigeria, and in 14D there's Mr. Kwateng from Ghana, and he's dating this lovely Filipina called Carrie, who makes the best chocolate cake. But you're definitely our first Zimbabweans. She frowned for a moment, then added, I'm not sure about the other towers. I know a lot of people, but I'm not sure. Immi was annoyed with herself for a moment. Somehow knowing the names and backgrounds and stories of a few hundred people suddenly wasn't enough. Amelia's father was delighted to have met Immi's father. He would now be getting a solid source of wood off cuts from one of Immi's father's regulars, a man who owned a lumberjack business and once a week took a taxi into town to eat at a fancy restaurant with his wife. It was a few weeks later that Amelia presented Immi with the collection of carved wooden animals. A whole safari emerged from the cardboard box. An elephant the size of Immi's fist, trunk raised in the air, was first to appear. Immigrated, she then reached inside, and out came a giraffe, legs spread apart as he bent to drink from an invisible watering hole. A lion lay on its side, mouth open in an eternal yawn. A buffalo looked for all the world as if he was wearing a judge's wig on his head. A hippo, with his head turned sideways, looked curiously across at Immi as he was taken from the box, and a crocodile held a small posy of flowers in his jaws. The flowers are from my mother to yours, explained Amelia. The animals, well, they're for all of you to say thank you for your kindness over the last few weeks, for by now there had been many meals, there had been invitations to the line dancing on the distant roof of the White House. There had been hours spent scratching heads and handing over spanners beneath the hood of the ancient car. Pictures had been found in marketplaces and brought back, and hammers shared and nails pushed into walls. The honestly, we have too many blankets had been taken down to 3C from 46B, along with clothes for the baby, delicately stitched and sewn by Naia and Mrs. Chan as they sat contentedly on the little Indian lady's balcony, passing the time together in satisfied silence. The community had come together to transform a bare apartment into a home with Immi at the helm, and to thank them for all their efforts. Amelia's father had worked late into the night carving the first blocks of wood he was given, creating this menagerie to share with his new friends. Every detail was perfect on those animals. The horns on the giraffe and the wrinkled skin of the elephant were there, the soft mane of the lion could almost be seen billowing in the wind, and the little ears of the hippo seemed as if they twisted and turned every few days. Immi's mother took care to replace the posy in the crocodile's mouth, a delicate touch added to such a fierce animal that softened him and made even his scaly skin somehow beautiful. And to thank Amelia for the gift, Immy decided it was time to show her the final secret corner of the White House. So it was that one evening Billy came across and knocked on the door of 3C, offering a smile and a sau bona to Amelia's gogo, who answered the door in her brightest, most beautiful dress yet. He tickled Baby Tando while Amelia found her warm coat and admired the side table that her father was making for Mr. Jupiter in apartment 22A, his first job in England, off the back of those wonderful carved wooden animals that sat in pride of place on a shelf in 46B. And then off they were going together, up, up the flights of stairs that twisted and turned, passing the murals and plants and racks of shoes and bicycles that filled the hallways and gave life to the old cold building. With a huff and a puff they reached 46B, knocking on Immi's door and stuffing warm cookies into their mouths as Immi disappeared in search of her hat and coat. Then the three of them were walking up the final flights to the very top of the White House, heading up the last stairs to the emergency exit door and stepping out onto the roof. The lights of the city twinkled in the distance, and Amelia stood on the edge, her hands resting on the railing, taking in the scene. The park was lit at night, and distant shouts from a group of footballers drifted up to them as they stood and watched a trio of friends looking out on the world at night. Bats squeaked and skittered and danced here and there, dashing through the darkness, and an owl came so close Immi thought its wings would brush their faces. Nobody else comes up here, explained Immi. It's where we come to, you know, get away from everything. So if you ever want an escape. Or if you're feeling a long, long way from and you want a bit of peace to think about it all, just knock on my door and we'll come up here together. Amelia leaned back and looked up at the sky. Even the stars are different, she said. But thank you both. Thank you for everything. I thought I would hate it here, but you've both made it wonderful, really. Even my gogo likes it here. I never thought that could happen. Immi, standing on one side, reached out her hand and covered Amelia's, and Billy, standing on the other side, did the same with her other hand, and the three of them stood there together, breathing in the cold night air and feeling as if they were on top of the world. Above them the stars danced and flickered in the sky. A sliver of moon, just a sliver, for it was on the wane, seemed as if it had been hung there in the darkness. They took it in turns to find the satellites, bright dots rushing through the sky, and watch the green and red flashing lights of a plane flying overhead. Immi remembered the mural she and Billy had helped create only a few months before, the one about the meaning of home, and she squeezed Amelia's hand a little tighter. The world is at once so vast and so small in this modern world where we can be whisked from one side to the other in less than a day. She knew how far she had felt from Buttercup Drive when she'd first arrived and could only imagine how far Zimbabwe must feel for Amelia. But she hoped they could make it a little easier for her, and hoped they could add a little loveliness to her world. And as if the universe were listening to Immy's thoughts, a star swept its way across the sky and fell, a bright swoosh of magic that seemed as if it was just for them. And of course Billy pulled the extra cookies from his pocket, ones he had slipped in there when Immi's mother was deliberately not looking, and Immi decided there could be nothing more wonderful than munching cookies with friends while the stars above sparkled and danced. Sam Ra.