← Koala Moon: Kids Bedtime Stories & Sleep Stories for Kids Podcast
Koala Moon: Kids Bedtime Stories & Sleep Stories for Kids Podcast
Koko, Hector & The Sleepy Sleigh Ride 🐨🐶 Cozy Bedtime Stories For Kids
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- [00:00]
Narrator
Foreign. Hello and welcome back to Koala Moon, a podcast of original bedtime stories and sleep meditations for kids designed to make bedtime a dream. Stand back everyone and make way for tonight's newest recruits, the Coco Club. We're giving a very warm welcome to Garrett from Raleigh, North Carolina and Olivia in White House Station, New Jersey, usa who turned eight back in November. Happy Birthday and thank you so much for supporting us. Both of you. Please settle in and relax in the knowledge that you now have loads and loads of bedtime stories, premium ones to help you drift off for the whole year. All ad free. And you'll get a new one each week, starting with Hector and Sunny in the Enchanted Pebbles, which is coming out on Wednesday. But let's not skip ahead. Tonight's story's coming up and it's the tale of a super snoozy journey taking place at a magical time of year. Soon we're going to meet up with Coco, his old friend Hector, and the ever sparkly Sidney the Squirrel for a magical Christmas Eve adventure initiated by a reindeer named Raffi. 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 Coco Club. Subscribe in just two taps via the link in the show notes, but now here's a quick word from our sponsors. We know our listeners have the most incredible imaginations, from sharing story ideas to showing us how creative they can be with characters. The new Paw Patrol Fire Rescue Toys celebrate that same spirit of creativity, helping little heroes feel proud of the stories they create. Your little storyteller can join Marshall and the team on their biggest adventures yet with the all new Fire Station HQ where they can gear up and slide down the pole and Marshall's Rapid Reload fire truck ready for action. Every pup has their own vehicle so kids can recreate their favourite rescues from the show and or dream up their own. It's creative hands on play that inspires teamwork and confidence. The perfect way to keep their imaginations shining bright. So when the time comes for a new adventure, check out the Red Hot Paw Patrol Fire Rescue Toys available now at all major retailers. When Raffi arrives all the way from Lapland, Coco and Hector are invited on a very special mission to test drive Santa's brand new sleigh before the big night. Together, they glide through snowy forests, meet Santa himself and soar across the Lapland tundra beneath the dazzling northern lights. Along the way, they discover that the comfiest sleigh ride in the world can also be the sleepiest. Ok, relax back in bed and let your eyes close as I begin. Koko, Hector and the Sleepy Sleigh Ride by Luke Prendergast. Deep in the heart of a faraway forest stood a cosy wooden cabin. Inside the cabin lived a family of koalas, Koko and his parents and his grandparents. One afternoon Koko was in the forest clearing right in front of the cosy cabin when a squirrel and a reindeer are Actually, I really ought to be more precise than that, because this afternoon was not any old afternoon, but a very special afternoon Indeed. It was the 23rd of December, Christmas Eve Eve. Snow had been falling in Sleepy Forest and had left little white hats and coats on top of all of the trees and the houses, and snow could even be seen floating in fluffy snowbirds down the waters of the sleepy river. All the residencies of Sleepy Forest had been decorated with tinsel and baubles. Even the cosy cabin had some fairy light strung up along its dormers. That morning Koko had built his very own snow koala in front of his cosy cabin, and for the past 20 minutes he'd been writing a Christmas card to one of his best pals, Hector. Hector was a golden retriever who lived in a land far away. If Koko were quick, he could get down to Penny, the postal pigeon's delivery office, and have the cards sent off so that it arrived for Hector on Christmas Day. Coco was just licking the envelope's sticky seal when he looked up and saw, to his great delight, his old friend Sydney the squirrel approaching. Sydney was wearing his tell tale sparkly silver jacket along with a woolly silver hat, sparkly gloves, and a gold and silver scarf to keep off the cold. And he wasn't alone. Beside him strode a big shaggy haired moose. Or was it an elk? Or an extremely large deer? Coco wasn't sure. Coco, Sydney said, giving him a dazzling smile, please meet an old friend of mine who has travelled here all the way from Lapland. Raffi the reindeer. Of course, Koko realised this was a reindeer with his thick fur and his velveteen antlers and wide spreading hooves made perfectly for dancing lightly over the thick and soft snow. And had Sydney said he was from Lapland? And had he said the reindeer's name was Rudolph? Oh, I'm afraid not, said the reindeer, chuckling kindly. Rudolph is my red nosed, much more famous cousin. He's the one who makes it into all the pictures on Advent calendars. I'm just plain old Glow in the dark nosed Raffy. It's good to meet you. It's a pleasure to meet you too, Coco told Raffi, and after having a good look at the reindeer's shiny black nose, added, and I don't think your nose is plain at all. I think it's rather magnificent. Raff is looking for a little bit of help, sydney said. And I thought there was no better person for the job than you, Cocoa. Go on, Raffi, tell him. The situation was this. Up in Lapland, the elves had been busy making a brand new sleigh for Santa, the most spectacular sleigh you could dream up in a million years, and the plan was for Santa to use the sleigh the following night on Christmas Eve when he travelled around the many known and unknown worlds delivering his presents to a all of the houses. The only problem was, Santa and his reindeer had been so busy that they hadn't had the chance to take the new sleigh for a test ride to check for qualities such as comfort, cosiness and glide. And a test ride simply needed to be done. Imagine if Santa had to suffer an unexpectedly lumpy seat under his bum all throughout the long Christmas Eve night. So, Raffi concluded, would Koko be willing to come up to Lapland post haste and give the sleigh a test ride? By the time the reindeer finished speaking, Koko was already beaming and nodding his head vigorously. Oh, of course I will, he said. That sounds like a very exciting adventure indeed. I'll just need to ask my mum's permission though. And at this moment Coco looked down at the envelope still clutched in his paw. And I need to get down to the delivery office to post this to Hector. Otherwise it won't arrive in time for Christmas. Koko chewed his cheek nervously. Raffi had said they needed to go post haste and he knew that meant without delay. He hoped sending Hector a Christmas card wouldn't scupper their plans. But Sydney's eyes were glittering as sparkly as his silver jacket. We can do better than sending Hector a Christmas card, he said. How about we bring him along for the ride? Coco stared at the squirrel wide eyed. You could do that. Sydney smiled. Call it a Christmas Eve Eve gift. And out of his pocket he took a handful of golden glitter which he threw high into the air. As the glitter fell, the air seemed to wobble and warp, as though the fabric between this world and all the other worlds had suddenly become very thin. A window appeared to form in the air and a moment later Hector stepped right out of it, looking a little dazed, his eyes were wiggling dizzily and his hair was all skewif. He glanced around, seeing Sydney and Raffi. But when Hector spotted Koko, his tail started wagging with joy and he leapt on his old friend, leaving slobbery wet kisses on his furry cheeks. Oh, Coco, hector said, What a wonderful Christmas surprise it is to see you. But why have you brought me here? Well, Hector, coco said, I was wondering, do you want to come on a little adventure with me? Hector's tail only started shaking back and forth more, his wag radar for excitement. Pinging on a venture, he repeated.
- [11:03]
Hector
To where?
- [11:06]
Narrator
To Lapland, koko said. And so 15 minutes later, Koko and his old friend Hector found themselves trundling merrily along on a sleigh, skimming across the thick white snows of the Lapland tundra. And how did they end up on a sleigh, you might ask? And that would be a very good question indeed. Raffi, you see, had pulled his sleigh all the way down to Sleepy Forest from Lapland itself, and it was waiting just around the corner from Koko's cosy cabin, tied up to a broad tree trunk while falling snowflakes sprinkled on its soft seats. When Koko had got permission from his mother, that plant. She'd exclaimed, pressing a shocked paw to her open mouth. Why, of course you must go. Stay safe with Hector and say hello to Santa from me. Pulled on his thick coat and made sure the laces to his fleeced snow boots were done up nice and tight. They all went around the corner to where the sleigh was waiting. Oh, Coco sighed. It's beautiful. And it was, with its pinewood frame and its plush red cushions. This is just your bog standard North Pole sleigh, raffi replied. Just you wait until you get to Lapland and see the sleigh you're going to be test riding. Now that's what I'd call a sleigh. When Koko and Hector were happily ensconced on the red cushioned sleigh and Raffi had finished harnessing himself to the front so that he could pull it with ease, Sydney suggested that for the sake of efficiency, would it not be easier if he were to simply open a portal that would take them directly to Lapland instead of Raffi having to pull them all the way back there? It was a terribly long way to go to the other side of another world like that. So the sparkle clad little squirrel grabbed another handful of snow, tossed it up into the air, and Raffi pulled the sleigh through the glittering curtain of snow. Sparkles. And just like that they were no longer in sleepy forest at all, but skidding along an endless sea of snow beneath the Lapland sky. Hector travelled with his tongue hanging out, pointing out every snow capped fir tree they passed, and at one point Koko spotted an arctic fox camouflaged against the tundra. They watched as the paper white fox sniffed the snow, leapt into the air and disappeared beneath the surface as though digging down for buried treasure. Yes, the tundra was such a spectacular and unfamiliar place, and Raffi's sleigh driving so graceful and smooth that the time slipped by as swiftly as a sledge down a snowy slope. And before long Raffi was calling out for them to look up ahead. Welcome to the Santa Center. Koko and Hector tipped their heads to look around the reindeer's shaggy head and saw that they were approaching a whole jumble of wooden cabins, some as large as factory buildings, others as small as garden sheds. Baubles hung from them and light bulbs glowing blue and yellow. Elves dressed in red and green felt uniforms scampered about carrying wobbly gift wrapped presents, half finished toys, boxes of cinnamon cookies, rolls of sticky tape. And there were other reindeer too, Koko noticed with delight. He even spotted Rudolph the red nosed Reindeer, bowing his head so an elf could polish his nose with a cloth to make it shine extra bright. Raffi pulled them past all these delights and straight up to a particularly pretty log cabin with candles flickering in the windows and candy canes decorating the roof. No sooner had they stopped outside it than the door swung open. Ho ho ho. Koko and Hector could not believe their eyes. It was Santa himself, with his fluffy white beard and his bright red suit, a black belt buckled around his bulging tummy. Here he was in real life, and the strangest thing of all, he looked just as happy to see them as they were to see him.
- [16:38]
Hector
Coco.
- [16:40]
Narrator
Hector, he said in his deep voice, which was at once booming and curiously.
- [16:47]
Hector
Calming, how glad I am that you could both come to help a busy old man out. I can't tell you how many presents there are to wrap and toys to build and dreams to make. Do you know how many people I have on my delivery list tomorrow night? Let me tell you, it's billions. And so it's ever so kind of you to come and test out the new sleigh to make sure that it's all in working order for the big night, Christmas Eve.
- [17:34]
Narrator
He beamed at them, each white tooth gleaming like marble.
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Hector
So, are you ready to see the Sleigh.
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Narrator
Koko and Hector grinned at Santa and nodded. Neither of them were quite sure they could manage to speak a single word. Splendid, Santa said.
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Hector
This way.
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Narrator
As it turned out, Raffi was right. Santa's new sleigh was something else. It was a gleaming chariot with red wood polished to a mirror like sheen and carved into elegant curves, green cloth lining embroidered with dozens of small orange stars and miraculously soft looking blankets and cushions decorated with festive brightness. It looked grand and cosy all at the same time. Just big enough to sit Santa comfortably atop during his long night of deliveries.
- [18:45]
Hector
But where do all the presents go?
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Narrator
Hector asked, circling the beautiful sleigh.
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Hector
Now that's the new fangled thing about.
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Narrator
This here contraption, Santa told them. He walked around the back of the sleigh and opened a small wooden door.
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Hector
This is a magical door created by a young elf of mind called Wiz. That elf knows everything about magical tech. This storage space doesn't look big enough to hold a pie, does it?
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Narrator
Koko and Hector shook their heads.
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Hector
That's where you'd be wrong.
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Narrator
Santa said, laughing and patting his belly.
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Hector
It's enchanted. It can fit billions and billions of presents inside it. The plan is that it makes flying this thing terrifically easy. You know, these days it's all about efficiency.
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Narrator
Santa beamed at them. So he went on, the reindeers need.
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Hector
To rest today for their big journey tomorrow night. It's a real marathon crossing the world after all. So today we've got some others who are going to help pull the sleigh. How does that sound?
- [20:12]
Narrator
Before Koko could answer, out from around the side of the house ran a pack of fluffy blue eyed huskies. They barked a hello at Koko and Hector and then got busy harnessing themselves to the sleigh. That sounds just brilliant. Koko said to Santa. He had finally rediscovered the ability to talk. Hey, Hector, he added, suddenly giving his friend a quizzical look. What are you doing? For Hector was in amongst the pack of huskies, allowing one of them to tug a harness over his chest and secure him into it.
- [20:55]
Hector
Well, Coco, said Hector, after you did this good thing by coming up to Lapland to help Santa test drive his sleigh. And after all, these huskies here did a good thing by helping the reindeer out when they needed to rest, I just thought that I would lend a helping hand too.
- [21:19]
Narrator
Hector's golden cheeks blushed a little as he laughed.
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Hector
Rather a helping paw. Or four, I guess.
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Narrator
And so Koko climbed up into Santa's new sleigh and tucked himself under the soft down of the blankets with a cushion beneath him and another beneath his head. Ready, team? The lead husky called out, and they began to pull the sleigh away.
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Hector
Good luck.
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Narrator
Santa called out, waving, and I can't.
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Hector
Wait to hear what you think. Ho ho, ho, ho.
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Narrator
And then they were gone, and Santa's chocolate box house was receding into the distance until it was just a glowing orange speck. Hector and the huskies pulled the sleigh out across the tundra. At first, it was a strange sensation for Hector, the pressure of the harness against his chest, and a couple of times his legs fell out of rhythm with the motions of the huskies, and he had to trot or skip to regain a sense of harmony. But it didn't take long for him to find his feet, and soon enough, he was working in tandem with them in perfect concert, as though they were not a pack of dogs at all, but each one of them a member of some magical and miraculous orchestra, coming together as individuals to produce some rich and beautiful song. And what a beautiful song it was, that sleigh ride that for the first few minutes, Koko was so filled with awe that he practically forgot that he was meant to be taking notes for Santa on how the sleigh ride was. So when he'd gathered his wits about him, he sat up in his cosy cocoon of blankets and concentrated a little harder on what was going on. Smoothness. Well, had he ever experienced anything so smooth in his life? If you melted a pile of the most delicious chocolate and poured it from a height over the top of a cake, even that wouldn't be quite as smooth as this sleigh ride. You couldn't even feel the wooden runners moving over the snow, they slid so effortlessly. And as for comfiness, well, he was as snug as a bug in a rug. And truth be told, the hypnotic rocking of the sleigh in the softness of the cushions was making Koko feel a little sleepy already. So the only problem he could imagine Santa encountering was being so comfy that he fell right asleep and forgot to do all his gift deliveries. Hector and the huskies loped across the tundra past strange, magical castles built out of ice, polar bears creeping across the horizon. In the North Pole, the days are extremely short, and the brief couple of hours of sunlight were already fading. Night was on its way. The sky was fading from forget me not blue to pink to lilac to pewter. At last, as the sun dipped beneath the horizon, the sleigh came to a halt. What's happening? Koko asked. Hector peered over his shoulder, smiling and panting. It's pretty tiring pulling this sleigh, he told Koko.
- [25:40]
Hector
I mean, for a golden retriever like.
- [25:42]
Narrator
Me who's not used to it. Mind if I get up in that sleigh with you, Koko? Oh, yes, please, Hector, he said. Of course. You can join me up here. What could make a koala happier than being joined on a sleepy sleigh ride by one of his greatest pals in the world? So Hector wriggled out of his harness, packed it away neatly, and climbed up into the sleigh beside Koko. Koko shifted over a little and made a snug little space for Hector to slip into. Before long, the huskies, who it seemed never got tired, were off again, pulling them smoothly across the Lapland tundra. Oh, hector sighed, a great big yawn taking over him so that Koko could see his big pink tongue and little white teeth.
- [26:52]
Hector
Pulling a sleigh is hard work. And this sleigh is ever so comfy. I could fall right asleep.
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Narrator
Me too, said Koko, snuggling down into a blanket. Even though I haven't been pulling a sleigh, he added, grinning. From up ahead came the soft, kind voice of the lead husky. Don't fall asleep just yet, she told them. Were taking you to see something. To see what? Koko asked. But the husky just smiled and shook her head. It's a surprise. Just look up. Koko and Hector lay back in the sleigh and did as the husky had told them, looking up into the sky, which was now an inky black blanket studded with billions and gazillions of tiny sparkling stars. It was like someone had spilt a whole packet of sequins all over it and left them there to twinkle. What are we looking out for? Koko whispered. I don't know, hector said. I'm afraid we're missing something. Coco nodded. Do you think we should ask that friendly husky again? Hector was about to say yes. Maybe that would be a good idea. When he caught his tongue beneath him, his tail started wagging.
- [28:40]
Hector
I don't think we need to, Coco, he said.
- [28:45]
Narrator
Look. Above them, the sky was alight. Drapes of dancing colours, pinks and greens and blues, fell and shimmered, as though there were some magical beings flying overhead, dangling long swathes of cloth from their arms, shimmering with light. Koko gasped. Hector did too. What is that? He whispered. Those, said the husky, are called the Northern Lights. This beautiful display happens every night up here. What causes it? Coco asked. Ah, said the Husky? That's a good question. Some say it's special particles traveling through space colliding spectacularly with the arctic atmosphere. Others say it's where the sky is so thin that the light from other worlds leaks through, dancing like illuminated curtains. For a while they all watch the northern light spangling Coco and Hector and the pack of huskies until Koko let out a big yawn. And because yawns are so catching, as soon as Coco started yawning, Hector did too. You two must be tired, the husky said. You've had a long day of traveling and you've worked hard taking Santa's new sleigh for this test ride. You should get some rest while we pull you back to the Santa center, where you can stay until you're ready to go home in the morning. That will be good, koko told them. Next to him, Hector gave a little grunt of agreement. It was all the poor dog could manage. He was suddenly so tired. And so Koko and Hector nestled down into the soft and comforting warmth of the blankets and cushions. They felt the gentle rumble of the sleigh beneath them as the huskies began to pull them along, felt the gentle glide of the runners over the thick snow of the tundra. Already marvellous images were floating through Koko's brain. Hot chocolate and marshmallows and candy canes. Presents wrapped in ribbons and bows. Tall pine trees with glowing stars on top, fairy lights twinkling. Oh, he loved Christmas and Christmas Eve. And now he loved Christmas Eve Eve, too. There was no doubt about it. This was the best Christmas Eve Eve ever. He would never, ever, he thought to himself, forget the time he came up to Lapland to help Santa test drive his new sleigh. That memory would lie in his heart forevermore. The thought comforted Coco. It soothed him. Sprinkles of snow drifted gently from the sky, melting before they even touched his face. He snuggled down into the blankets, Hector, already asleep beside him, and closed his eyes, let himself fall asleep as the huskies drew him back towards Santa's chocolate box house with the northern lights, those beautiful curtains of pink and green dancing and waving in the sky above him on this sleepy sleigh ride on the best ever Christmas Eve Eve.