← Koala Moon: Kids Bedtime Stories & Sleep Stories for Kids Podcast
Koala Moon: Kids Bedtime Stories & Sleep Stories for Kids Podcast
The Yawn That Spread Around The World 🥱 🌍 Bedtime Stories For Kids | Rewind
00:32:20
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- [00:11]
Narrator
Hello and welcome back to Koala Moon.
- [00:13]
Sponsor/Promoter
A podcast of original children's bedtime stories.
- [00:16]
Narrator
And meditations designed to make bedtime a dream. I reckon that even if you don't think you're tired enough for bed yet, this story I'm about to read will start to change your mind. Perhaps even just reading the title and thinking about a yawn has started you off. There's something quite magical about yawns, don't you think? It's as though they have invisible little legs or a minute silent engine or some other hidden mode of transport. Because as soon as one person yawns, all the people around who noticed will gradually do the same. Let's see if it happens, for in tonight's story we're going to follow a yawn as it spreads throughout the world, beginning with one tiny little baby koala and ending up who knows where. Maybe with you or me. Let's see. 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.
- [01:30]
Sponsor/Promoter
Hey parents. Now that all of the excitement of Christmas is out of the way, we're starting the new year with something really special. From today until January 18th, new premium subscribers can claim a 30 day free trial and unlock the very best of Koala moon. That's over 500 A.D. free bedtime stories, including every Cappy and Tito episode which is forever exclusive to Koco Club members. Plus you'll be whisked away on some brand new adventures to Harmony Cove and Moonbeam Heights alongside the previously undiscovered worlds of Wonder, Jungle and Pillowy Peaks. These immersive subscriber only stories have been created to put your little one right inside the story as they adventure alongside some of their favourite characters. This offer is only available for new subscribers and is only around for a limited time, so be sure to start your free 30 day trial before January 18th. Let's settle into the new year and get cozy with soothing bedtime stories, ad.
- [02:32]
Narrator
Free listening and a little extra magic.
- [02:35]
Sponsor/Promoter
At bedtime tap to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or head to the link in our Show Notes for Spotify, Yoto and other players.
- [02:44]
Narrator
Sweet Dreams. This is the Yawn that Travelled around the World by Jane Thomas. Have you ever been in a room when somebody else has yawned and you found yourself yawning too? Even saying the word makes some people yawn. Let's try it three times and see if we can make it through without yawning. Yawn. Yawn. Yawn. A yawn is your body's way of announcing that it's time to start thinking of falling asleep. It's also something that grown ups will look out for and as soon as they see a yawn they will leap in with comments like maybe it's time you went to bed now dear. Or come on time you were asleep and there's nothing more annoying than a grown up catching you yawning just as something really interesting is about to happen. That's what the little joey kangaroo thought anyway. He'd spent the day playing with his friends in the hot Australian sun. First they'd played hopscotch, something the door kangaroos are excellent at playing. They and then they'd splashed around in a pool to cool off. The kangaroos believed that the pool was just for them, as they'd never seen any other animals there at all. For years. The kangaroos had gathered in the hot afternoons by the pool under the eucalyptus trees, pushing off from the sandy bottom to leap out of the water and crash back into it with silver droplets flying all around. The little joey adored the days he went to the pool with his friends. They would all stand back and then hop as fast as they could towards the water, taking a final giant jump towards it to see who could make the biggest, loudest, most satisfying splash. The little joey had learnt to whoosh his tail through the water so it gave an extra wave and a bonus splash. The evening was just starting to happen. A pink and white cloud of chattering cockatoos had flown by on their way to their nests for the night, and the sky had turned from that glorious bright blue of daytime to that softer purply blue of the evening. The wind that had swept across the land during the day suddenly dropped. The little joey never had understood why. The wind dropped as the night started to come, but stillness was a sure sign that the day was drawing to a close. And then it happened. Another creature came to the watering hole. The kangaroos and the little joey all stopped their swimming and splashing and watched silently as a family of koalas approached the edge. They moved incredibly slowly, a small eternity between each paw making a move forwards and they shuffled awkwardly across the soft sand. The little joey was mesmerized, watching as the koalas inched their way into the water and then lay back on their backs and floated. It was so different to the way he and his friends Dashed into the pool, all noises and splashes and fun he wanted to watch for ages. But then it happened. As he stood looking at the koalas in the water, a baby koala climbed onto its mother's big round belly that was floating far above the waterline. The baby koala snuggled itself into place, resting its head on the very top of the belly and closing his eyes. The little joey watched as the baby koala's head rose and fell, rose and fell to the soft rhythm of his mother's gentle breathing. And then, eyes tight shut, the baby koala yawned. His mouth stretched open wide. He spread his arms and fully embraced the stretch and the yawn. And then he snuggled down with an extra little wiggle and started gently snoring. The little joey couldn't help himself. He caught the baby koala's yawn, and before he knew it, he felt his own mouth stretching wide open, his eyes closing and a tiredness pour into his body. And of course, his mother saw. Come, little joey, she called softly from her place on the blanket. Its time for you to go to bed. But mom, the little joey protested, looking between her and the floating, contented koalas. She was about to relent and let him stay a little longer when he yawned again, a huge yawn that rippled through the other little kangaroos. One by one, their mothers called them back to their pouches. And they all did as they were told, snuggling down into the soft warmness of the fur and wrapped in the safest, darkest, cosiest cloak. A cockatoo flying overhead. A single pink and white ball floating slowly through the sky. Saw the little joey's yawn. And she felt one building inside her too as she flew home, flapping her wings more and more slowly and drifting through the darkening sky towards her nest. The yawn within her made her feel sleepier and sleepier and sleepier. It felt like forever before she reached her home. And there, safely back where she belonged, she finally allowed herself to yawn. Her beak opened wider than it ever had before. And all the other cockatoos who hadn't yet fallen asleep were soon yawning as well, closing their powder blue eyes against the world and disappearing into dreams. At the very base of the tree where the cockatoos nest lives a family of crocodiles. One in particular. He's very tired indeed, but he's trying not to let anyone see. Yawning is the last thing he wants to do. He spent the day curling himself up into a ball and rolling down muddy banks with his friends. And chasing silver and gold flashes of dragonflies among the long reeds. It has been one of those beautiful days that he doesn't want to end because everything has been laced with a little bit of magic. His best friend, who had been practising her bubble blowing for weeks, had finally managed to produce the biggest, most perfect bubbles any of them had seen. She had found the perfect corner of the pond to draw in the water and worked out just how to shape the end of her long and pointy mouth to blow out a glorious, gorgeous, shimmering, rainbow covered bubble. The other crocodiles bounced the bubbles on the very ends of their noses, pushing them around in a circle until finally the bubble burst and they had to start all over again. The little crocodile had counted five bounces at one point, which is an awful lot for creatures that are covered in spikes and rough skin. He thought back to the bubble and watch the scene again in his mind. One bubble carefully blown into shape and then, poof. Sent off into the breeze. One bubble bounce, two bubble bounces, Three bubble bounces, four bubble bounces. He remembered how excited the crocodiles had been when they had managed four. And then there it was, a fifth bubble bounce. On the sixth bounce, the little bubble burst and disappeared as if it had never been there at all. The crocodile was smiling to himself, remembering the bubbles and the ball rolling and the dragonflies, when the cockatoo had landed above him on a branch and let out an almighty yawn. He tried pushing down the yawn that had built up inside him, but it was impossible. And finally, there it was. A giant crocodile yawn stretching wider than any yawn ever had before. It was impossible for his mother not to see it. Come, little crocodile, time for bed. She called softly from the other side of the reeds. And the crocodile crawled across the muddy bank and slid down into his soft, muddy bed, snuggling down with his head on a pillow of feathers and leaves. Far away, so far away it was in a different country entirely. A monkey was watching the crocodile through a telescope. He had been watching the crocodiles for days, laughing at the bubble bouncing and the mud sliding, and sometimes wishing he could be a crocodile for a while. It looked like fun. And because he was looking through the telescope and saw the crocodile yawn, he too felt the need for an almighty yawn building up inside him. The monkey had passed a particularly wonderful day. Swinging through the trees, he had found a whole new papaya plantation leading to the sweetest, juiciest breakfast of all. Then he and his best friend had played catch the mango where they clambered up opposite trees and threw a mango back and forth until the skin broke and the soft flesh dripped through their fingers. Then they had found some other monkeys to play watermelon ball with, which is a game remarkably similar to football, only it involves a whole watermelon being rolled around the field. There is no time limit on the game, and the ending is decided when the watermelon finally falls apart from being kicked one too many times across the stony ground, and then all the monkeys gather round and pull out great chunks of black beaded pinkness and eat and eat until it's all gone. And in between all this fun, in between the papayas and the mango and the watermelon, the monkey had climbed to the top of the tallest tree and taken out his telescope to watch the crocodiles playing. It was in one of those moments, just as the evening was starting to happen and the sky was softer and the parakeets were flying back home in bright flashes of blue and red and green, that he saw the crocodile yawn. The little monkey felt a yawn brewing inside him and he tried to keep it there, but finally he could stop it no more, and he yawned a huge, glorious yawn that he felt right in his toes. His mother smiled at him and softly called him down from the tree. Time for bed, little one, she said gently, and patted his bed of grasses. They lived in the moss covered ruins of an ancient temple, abandoned long ago by people and almost completely taken over by the jungle. And so it was that the monkey climbed into the arms of a carved stone mythical being, nestling his head into the grasses and taking only a few moments to fall asleep. From the edge of the jungle, a tiger watched on his orange stripes, hidden by the shafts of the sun's final rays that poured through the canopy of trees. The tiger watched as the little monkey yawned at the very top of the tallest tree, and deep inside he felt a yawn beginning to build. The tiger padded softly towards his den buried deep in the jungle. He passed the stream where he liked to play, leaping from boulder to boulder before diving into the deep, still waters and drifting slowly among the trees. He passed the place where the waters poured out into a lake and where he sometimes liked to float on his back and hold the biggest leaf he could find. The breeze would fill out the leaf and he would be pushed across the surface of the lake as if he were an orange and black striped boat, the water droplets glistening on his long whiskers and covering his soft fur as if he was dressed in a million Dazzling crystals. The tiger passed the hut where the scientists came and hid, the place where he sometimes deliberately walked past. So they got all excited and started taking his photograph and whispering among themselves. If he was having a day of feeling particularly generous towards the scientists who seemed so interested in recording everything about his life, he would deliberately take a nap right in their line of view. There was a favourite sun warmed boulder placed absolutely perfectly and he would leap onto that and settle down for a long and oversized cat nap right in front of them, smiling to himself as he fell asleep to their hushed oo's and ours. He smiled as he remembered the day he had brought some friends and they had copied the monkeys game of watermelon ball. Six huge tigers lumbering around in the opening and pushing the ball forwards with their heads and paws. The scientists had dropped their pens and stood open mouthed, amazed at what they were seeing. The tiger loved to imagine all the papers that had been written about that afternoon, all the theories that had been created from seeing some tigers pushing a watermelon among themselves. And then there was home, his den nestled in the roots of a giant tree. As he approached, he could finally hold the yawn in no longer. He yawned the biggest tiger yawn that has ever been known, his huge mouth stretching wide as he squeezed his eyes shut and pushed his paws into the floor. His mother paused, brushing out the den with her tail, and called him over. Time for bed, little one, she said gently, and nudged him towards his bed of soft mosses and leaves. The tiger climbed into his bed and was asleep within moments. Now, you may not know this, but when tigers yawn, they make a noise. It's a noise that is felt as much as it is heard. A feeling that suddenly comes deep in your belly and almost starts before your ears pick up that anything is happening. This feeling can be felt from miles around, and on this day it was felt by a young elephant. The baby elephant felt the yawn and heard the yawn and knew that it wouldn't be much longer before he too would yawn and his mother would send him to bed. He tried to distract himself from his yawn by playing with his favourite tyre. The tyre hung from a branch of a tree and had been left there long ago by people who had come by. The little elephant had learned that he could put his two back feet through the tyre and then hang onto the top of it with his two front feet and his trunk. And if he stayed there long enough, another elephant would always come by and give him a push so he could swing back and Forth, rising and falling, rising and falling, looking higher and higher up into the jungle around him. He climbed into the tire now and gave a little trumpet with his trunk, calling for his mother to come and give him a push. As he went higher and higher into the sky, he saw that it was no longer a bright blue, but was all oranges and yellows and pinks and reds, streaks of colour that floated across the whole sky. He couldn't see the colours in the trees anymore. They were now just black silhouettes, dark against the fading light in the sky. He couldn't see the bright pinks and yellows and blues of the jungle flowers as they had all folded up for the night, curling their petals into themselves to stay warm. He couldn't see the insects that buzzed around during the day because they had all disappeared to their homes and hives, wings wrapped around their bodies. And finally he could hold the yawn inside no longer. And he yawned and yawned for all he was worth, stretching his mouth wide. His mother smiled to herself and stopped pushing the swing, waiting as it slowed. And the little elephant went lower and lower on every back and forth. When he had finally stopped swinging at all, she said to him, time for bed, little one. Time for bed. And the elephant climbed off his swing and followed her back to their home. His bed waited for him, a huge pile of soft straw that his mother patted around him as he lay down, using her trunk to lift bundles and cover his body. The little elephant snuggled into his pillow and curled his trunk around himself, disappearing into dreams. And so it was that a yawn that started with a baby koala in the middle of nowhere in Australia slowly spread around the world. The baby koala yawned and so a little joey yawned. The little joey yawned and so a cockatoo yawned. The cockatoo made a crocodile yawn and the crocodile made a monkey yawn. The monkey yawned and so a tiger yawned. And because the tiger yawned, so the elephant yawned and that elephant yawn spread further and further. It spread across jungles and mountains, through towns and cities and tiny villages. It spread through oceans and rivers and streams, tumbling across and around the world so that every creature in every corner let out a giant glorious toe, stretching, eyes tight shut. Yawn. It's something that happens every single day. Sometimes a baby koala starts it, and sometimes a hippo and sometimes a cat. But every time a creature yawns, another one catches it and passes it on. And every time the grown ups see it, the little ones head towards their beds. All around the world, creatures hop and crawl and slide and swing their way into their nests and dens and homes. They wrap themselves in soft grasses and feathers and leaves, and turn their heads this way and that on their pillows, and all of them get to fall asleep dreaming of the days they've had. The crocodiles dream of dragonflies and bubbles blown, and the monkeys dream of papayas and throwing mangoes back and forth between the trees. The tigers stream of the huge leaves they use as sails to glide across the lakes, and the elephants dream of the tires and swings that push them higher and higher into the sky. And the sun disappears so everyone can be watched over by the star speckled silver, dabbled night sky. And the wind drops so the trees no longer rustle, and the seas and ocean can lay calm and still, and the whole world sleeps. Because somewhere, thousands of miles away, in a land you may never know, a baby koala yawned. Sa.