← Koala Moon: Kids Bedtime Stories & Sleep Stories for Kids Podcast
Koala Moon: Kids Bedtime Stories & Sleep Stories for Kids Podcast
The Sleepy Lighthouse ⚓️ 🌊 Relaxing Bedtime Stories For Kids
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Hello and welcome back to Koala Moon, a podcast of original bedtime stories and sleep meditations for kids designed to make bedtime a dream. Ooh. We're starting out with two lovelies from Anna Bay, Australia, who've just joined the Koko Club. Here's your shout out. Jasmine and Banksy, thank you for joining us. So lovely that you've come in. Enjoy all of your extra stories now. There's going to be loads and loads for your favourite characters. Just scroll back in the podcast feed and it's all ad free listening from now on. So enjoy yourselves. Okay, onto tonight's story. I have a question. Have any of you ever been inside a real lighthouse? I have. Once I slept in one. It had been converted into a hotel and my bedroom was the same shape as a cheese triangle. I have never forgotten it. I'd love to try it again, but I don't know any lighthouses anymore that I can sleep in. So if you know of any, let me know. Tonight though, we are starting in Sleepy Forest with Coco and Kira. But before long, we're going to venture down to the sands of Harmony Cove and we will reunite with our pirate friend Atticus. But that's only if he can navigate the Starchaser to shore. When the big light from the lunar lighthouse flash suddenly goes dark. Maybe Koko and Kira can come up with a plan to help guide him safely home. Before we find out, I want you to get ready to listen. And I want you to relax your bodies in bed. Perhaps shake your legs and your arms for a few seconds and when they become still, listen to this lovely breathing exercise that was posted on Spotify recently. It's from Stick Legends. So whoever and wherever you are, Stick Legends, thank you. Okay, here goes. Pretend you're a snowflake in the breeze and act as the northern winds. Breathe in and out and blow the snowflake until it lands on your tongue. And then do it again if you want. That's it. It's lovely, isn't it? 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. Ok, it's now time for me to start the Sleepy Lighthouse by Luke Prendergast. Deep in the heart of a faraway forest stood a cozy wooden cabin. And in that cabin lived a family of koalas. There was Koko and his little sister, Kira the panda. There were his grandparents, too, and his bespectacled father. And then there was his mum, who at this moment had just come tottering down the stairs and spotted Koko by the front door. And where, may I ask, are you off to? She asked, putting both her paws firmly on her hips. She asked the question because, true enough, it seemed that Koko was getting ready to go out. He'd already put on his blue anorak in case it rained, and just now he was pulling on a pair of dark brown walking boots, ensuring he tied the laces up good and tight. Beside him sat his sunset orange backpack, all ready to go. Koko finished tying the last knot of his laces and stood up, smiling up at his mum. You mean you've forgotten already? He asked. Forgotten what? His mum replied. Who's arriving tonight? Koko said. Who's coming into port tonight, sailing across the big blue sea? His mum frowned thoughtfully for a moment, then all at once her eyes lit up with sudden recollection. She clapped her paws to her face and nodded. Oh, of course, she said. I remember now. How could I forget? Tonight is the night Atticus is returning from his big adventure across the ocean. That was right. Koko's young, swashbuckling pirate friend Atticus, whose parents were the captains of the famous ship the Starchaser, had been away for three whole weeks. But just a couple of days ago a postal delivery pigeon had turned up with a letter for Koko. Koko could recognize Atticus's wobbly handwriting straight away. Every now and then the ink shot off in a wild loop across the envelope from where the ship had hit an unexpected wave and jogged his hand. The letter said that Atticus was returning to the Koala Kingdom, and he had something very special to show Koko. The letter finished with the words Meet me at the Lunar Lighthouse on Harmony Cove when our ship comes in, and Atticus's squiggly signature. My, my, time certainly flies, said Koko's mum, shaking her head. It felt like Atticus just left and he's back already. Say hello from me and make sure you're back for tea. Koko opened the door when there came the sudden noise of soft feet pattering down the stairs. Don't forget me, kira said, appearing in her purple anorak. I want to come and see Atticus, too. Koko smiled and helped his little sister tie the laces on her boots. When they were ready to go, they waved goodbye to their mum and headed out into sleepy Forest. It was a fair journey to Harmony Cove. They had to walk down to the sleepy river and catch a lift with Trevor, the taxi turtle. His broad green shell was very comfy and he swam as smooth as he could. But he did tell some rather dull stories that Koko and Kira had to pretend to find interesting so as not to offend him. A fine rain, more like a mist, was falling from the sky, and when they had arrived at Harmony Cove, they thanked Trevor and and said goodbye. The sky was already beginning to get dark. It was winter after all, and in the winter, night came early. Up on the side of the cliff at Harmony Cove stood the Lunar Lighthouse, a tall round building with red and white stripes and a glass room at the top. The lighthouse was run by a puffin who who went by the name of Mr. Beacon. No one knew whether he'd got that name because he worked in a lighthouse or because his orange beak was as bright as a lantern. But each night, as the koala sunshine set, it was Mr. Beacon's job to turn on the bright revolving light at the top of the Lunar Lighthouse so that ships arriving in the darkness could see where the land was and know where to go. But as Coco and Kira climbed the steps up the cliffside towards the lighthouse, they noticed that the light at the top was not yet lit. Mr. Beacon must be getting ready to light it soon, Koko said. When they reached the lighthouse. They knocked on the big white door. For a few seconds there was silence. Then came the sound of pattering feet and flapping wings, and a moment later the door swung open. A puffin stood in the doorway wearing a bright yellow raincoat. Hello, Mr. Beacon, Coco said with a smile. We're here to meet our friend Atticus, whose ship is arriving tonight. Oh, yes, that's right, said Mr. Beacon, nodding his head in what seemed to be a tense manner. Theyre arriving on the Star Chaser, are they not? Koko said that was right, and Mr. Beacon gave another nod, then looked all around nervously as though he had lost something and didn't know where to find it. He made a clicking sound with his beak. Kira, who had a special knack for noticing when something was worrying somebody, he said. Mr. Beacon, is everything all right? Mr. Beacon blinked at her, then let out a little sigh. Well, here's the thing, he said. Were all out of power here, which means that the lighthouse won't light. Coco and Kira exchanged a glance that didn't sound very good. And if the lighthouse is out, Mr. Beacon went on, then the captains of the Star Chaser won't be able to see where Harmony Cove is. They might sail right past the Koala Kingdom altogether, back out into the big blue sea. Coco and Kira asked Mr. Beacon if there was anything that could be done, whether there was a backup source of power, perhaps. But Mr. Beacon simply shook his head. There was no backup, and the power wouldn't regenerate until the next day. The corners of his beak seemed to turn down hopelessly. As you well know, Koko was an optimistic little koala. He preferred to view unexpected hurdles less as challenges and more like opportunities. He gave Mr. Beacon a bright, beaming smile and told him there was nothing to worry about. He and Kira would find a solution for the lightless lighthouse. After all, he said, we live in the Koala Kingdom, the most magical and marvellous place imaginable. I'm sure we'll be able to find a fix. A look of relief washed over Mr. Beacon's face. He even gave them a small smile. Thank you, he told them. That certainly made me feel reassured. He looked up at the big black clock that ticked on the wall. The Star Chaser is due to sail into Harmony Cove in an hour, he said. Hopefully you'll be able to find some way to light the lighthouse by then. Coco and Kira turned on their heels and climbed the steps back down to the soft sands and shingle of the beach at Harmony Cove. The sea was a shifting, inky black, twinkling starlight dancing on its surface. As they walked along the beach, Koko and Kira thought about how exactly they could light up the lighthouse. They scratched their heads, they hummed and ha'd. They stroked their chins as if they had long wise beards. Then Kira spotted a long coil of rope on the floor which sailors used to tie up their boats. Maybe, she said, we could lasso a star and drag it down to the Koala Kingdom. Then we could put it in the Lunar Lighthouse to guide the ships in. Oh yes, koko said, remembering an adventure he'd gone on a long time ago, just like Rocky the Space Cowboy did when he lassoed the moon. She picked up the rope and twirled it around her head, then let it go. But though the rope did fly high up into the air, it wasn't quite high enough to lasso a star. Kira said that because he was older, Koko might be able to do it, but when Koko sent the rope up into the sky, it still wasn't quite high enough to lasso a star. Nice idea, Kira, koko said. But it looks like without the Space Cowboy's Special lasso. That's not going to work. We'll have to come up with something else. That was when he spotted some sticks and a log in a pile by the foot of a tree. Once in a story he heard that you could make a little fire by twirling a stick against a log. If they could conjure some flames, then they could make a fire to light up the lighthouse. Koko knelt down and picked up a stick, poked it through a hole in the log and twiddled it around and around. But no matter how much he twiddled it, he couldn't make a fire. Perhaps the twigs were too damp from the rain. Just as he lay the stick of wood back on the ground, Kira tapped him on the shoulder. Look at that, she whispered. Over there. She pointed with a paw, and Coco saw that way away across the beach a little green light was shining. The light appeared to bob slowly across the sand, and behind it there was a trail of six or seven smaller lights. Koko frowned. Whatever could those tiny green lights following the little green light be? It was curiosity as much as anything else that made Koko and Kira pick their way across the beach to investigate the little green lights. As they got closer, Koko saw that in fact it was a family of glowworms, the lower ends of their bodies glowing green. There was a mother glowworm and her little troop of children. Koko and Kira waved and introduced themselves. Oh, hello, said the mother glowworm. I'm Glenda. Here, kids, say hello to Koko and Kira. At her words, the troop of baby glowworms waved their shimmering tails merrily at the new arrivals. Then Koko, who had recently become very interested in learning about the Koala kingdom and all its weird and wonderful inhabitants, asked Glenda what it actually was that made her body glow such a soft and brilliant green. Ah, said Glenda, giving her body a wriggle. That would be our bioluminescence. Bio lumin whatnce, Kira said, wrinkling her brow. That made Glenda chuckle. I know, I know, she said. It's a long word, and sometimes even I forget how to pronounce it myself. And I have it. Bioluminescence. That's the scientific word used to describe creatures whose bodies contain special cells that make them glow. But usually we just call it our glow in the darkness. When Glenda said this, Kira pictured the little stars that were stuck on her bedroom ceiling. Those stars glowed almost exactly the same colour as the glowworms glowed. What strange connections there were in the world, she thought. And then she pictured her bedroom ceiling covered in friendly glow worms instead of her Glow in the Dark stars, and decided that that would be even stranger. If only there were such a thing as a glow in the Dark elephant, Koko mused. A Glow in the Dark elephant would be big enough to light up the lighthouse. Glenda, who couldn't quite catch Koko's drift, asked him to explain what he was talking about. Koko explained to her about how the power of the Lunar Lighthouse was out and that they needed some way of lighting the lantern room at the top. Which was why, he said a Glow in the Dark elephant would be pretty useful about now. You're right that I'm rather too little to make enough light to illuminate the lighthouse, glenda said. Yes, kira agreed. Atticus still wouldn't be able to see you. But, Glenda added, giving them both a mischievous look, where there's a will, there's a way. And I have a glow in the dark plan up my sleeve. Coco raised a curious eyebrow at Glenda. What kind of a plan is that? He asked. And so it was. But about 15 minutes later, Coco, Kira, and their new friend Glenda returned to the lunar lighthouse. But they were not alone. Glenda's whole family had come with them, and as it turned out, Glenda had a rather large family. She'd fetched them from the cluster of tree houses they lived in, and now they were all there. Aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, grandparents and great grandparents, second and third cousins, and all the little glowworm kids, too. Arriving at the foot of the lighthouse, they must have looked like a small glowing army. My, my, said Mr. Beacon when he opened the door. What have we here? Coco explained that the glowworms had come to light the lantern room, and nodding his head gratefully and opening the door wide, Mr. Beacon let them in. He pointed to the stairs, and up they climbed in orderly glow in the dark fashion, until they all piled into the lantern room. To tell the truth, it was a bit snug in there with all these people, but on a chilly and drizzly winter's evening, there was something rather nice about being snug. Mr. Beacon waddled his way to the far side of the lantern room, saying excuse me, excuse me to the glowworms and oh, sorry, I didn't mean to stand on your tail. At last he made it and pressed his bright orange beak to the pane of glass that looked out over the sea. He narrowed his eyes, searching the dark waves, and then he said, aha, I see them. He tapped his beak against the glass to show them. And when Koko squinted hard, he could make out the shape of a ship in the distance. Billowing black sails, wood that gleamed in the moonlight, a big star painted on its side. It was the Star Chaser. Which meant one thing. Atticus was here. But the only problem was that the ship was not headed towards them. Oh dear. Squawked Mr. Beacon. They can't see us. They might go sailing straight past the koala kingdom. All right, folks, glenda's voice piped up. Time to glow. Come on, let's give it all we've got, all in concert. The glowworms began to glow extra hard. Each of their bodies lit up just an extra fraction, but because there were so many of them, each of these little fractions added up to make a perfect whole. The lantern room of the lighthouse was filled with bright green light, and it was clear that out on the ocean the Star chaser had caught sight of the light, for its silhouette turned towards them. Oh, hooray. Said Kira, giving the glow worms nearest to her a hug. Koko was doing the same. Even Mr. Beacon had a smile on his beak and was wrapping his black and white wings around the shoulders of a nearby glowworm. Twenty minutes later, Atticus was up in the lighthouse with them, along with his first mate, a little chimp called Ace, who could always be found perched on his shoulder. Glenda and Mr. Beacon were busy entertaining Atticus with the story of how they relit the lighthouse, taking turns at telling him the best bits. You should have seen Glenda, Mr. Beacon grinned. She'd just rustled her family together and made them glow twice as much in. It was extraordinary. Why, thank you, Mr. Beacon, Glenda said, blushing bright green. Atticus said that he thought the lighthouse should always be lit that colour. It looked so cool from out to sea. If Glenda and her family ever want to come back to the lunar lighthouse, Mr. Beacon said, giving her a little bow, they would be more than welcome. It might have been the first time, Coco thought with a small private chuckle, that a puffin had ever made friends with a glowworm. Now night had fully settled and the koala moon was glowing high in the sky. It was getting late. Everyone said their goodbyes, the small army of glowworms glowed their way home, and Koko and Kira invited Atticus back to theirs for a sleepover. Aye, aye, atticus said. I'd love to. And when we're back home, Koko said, you'll have to show us this very special thing you found on your adventure. So, Koko, Kira, Atticus and Ace the chimp made their way back home. They climbed up the cliff from Harmony Cove to where the sleepy river met the sea. Trevor the tortoise was still there, waiting for them. They climbed onto his back and sailed up the river, listening to the tortoises long stories, which at this time of night didn't seem so boring anymore. They seemed, in fact, rather cosy. When they reached the familiar pines of Sleepy Forest, they hopped off and made their way through the winding woodland paths, twigs snapping under their feet, leaves murmuring in the breeze. Soon they saw the orange glowing windows of the cosy cabin, and their mum was waiting for them with four mugs of hot chocolate, each topped with floating marshmallows. How she knew Atticus and Ace were going to come home with them, Koko didn't know. His mum always seemed to know impossible things like that. Soon they were sleepy, yawning and stretching their limbs and rubbing their eyes. They climbed the stairs, brushed their teeth and washed their faces. They laid out a mattress and some soft blankets on the floor for Atticus, right between Koko's bed and Kira's. But before they got in between the covers, Atticus took a wooden box out of his bag and laid it on the floor. This is what you wanted to show us? Coco whispered. Atticus nodded. He opened the lid of the box. Inside were dozens of small pieces of copper, all of different shapes and sizes. Ooh, sighed Kira. What is it? This, Atticus told them, was given to me by a mermaid we met in the Big Blue Sea. It was her childhood jigsaw puzzle. Look what happens when you arrange it right. Atticus poured the little pieces of copper onto the floor and started to arrange them into place. He worked steadily and methodically, with a look of firm concentration on his face, finding pieces that fit with each other and snapping them into place. Soon a shape had formed on the floor, and Koko had a sneaking suspicion that he knew what it was. At last there was only one piece left. Atticus lifted it up and handed it to Kira. You do it, he said. Kira reached down and put the last piece into place. The mermaid's jigsaw puzzle was complete. A perfect copper dolphin. Then the most miraculous thing happened. The copper dolphin started to glow. Then it wriggled its tail. It blinked its eyes. It floated up into the air, swishing its tail as though it was swimming through water. And then it hung in the room a few feet above them, twirling in midair, sending a soft bronze light around the room. The four of them, Koko and Kira, Atticus, and Ace stared up at the beautiful little dolphin revolving above them. They let out a sigh. I told you it was special, atticus whispered. Neither Koko nor Kira spoke a word they didn't need to. The dolphin cast its bronze gold glow over the room like a night light, and quietly all four of them got into bed and placed their heads on their pillows. They stretched their arms. They stifled small yawns. Then they whispered goodnight to each other. Koko and Kira told Atticus how glad they were that he was back from his adventure over the seas. Atticus said he couldn't believe how lucky he was to have friends like them. Outside a soft rain fell, pitter pattering against the window. Inside the dolphin glowed, and as he closed his eyes and let his mind loosen itself from the day, it occurred to Koko how full of strange and magical coincidences the world was. The family of helpful glow worms was not so different from the mermaid's magical jigsaw puzzle, and not just because they both glowed. It was because lots of little pieces came together to make something quite remarkable. Something quietly spectacular, something beautiful. And maybe, Koko thought as sleep reached up to take him in its soft and cosy arms, maybe he and his family and his friends, maybe they were like that too. Maybe they all came together like a jigsaw puzzle to make something remarkable. To make something beautiful. An image floated into his head, the first image of a dream in which all his friends across the Koala kingdom were glowing. Mr. Beacon was glowing. Kira and Atticus were glowing. Even Koko himself was glowing. All of them glowing together. What a warming, beautiful dream that was. In fact, it was so sweet and inviting that Koko let himself sink softly into it, the same way you might sink into a mass of warm bedcovers. The raindrops kept on falling. Outside, the koala moon watched over the kingdom, and Koko, snug in his bed, fell into a deep and peaceful sleep. Sam. Ra.