Tilibou: Bedtime Stories for Kids · Calm Sleep Stories for Toddlers

A bedtime story for children. Today, it's a little cool outside, and the wind blows ever so lightly against the window. So Mom turns on the heating: a little click, a soft breath of warmth. Emma rests her hand on the radiator. "Hot! So hot!" All day long, a warm breeze drifts through the house, from room to room. A perfectly simple day. Well, almost. That night, under the quilt, the meadow is even warmer than usual, like a meadow in the middle of summer. Emma falls asleep with Mochi, her lovey, and the Evening World wakes up: the nightlight becomes a little moon, the rug a soft island. Mochi says good evening to Pantin, to Ball and to Nina, who finds the warmth quite lovely. And then, a sound. Glug-glug-clunk, goes the house. Ball goes stiff as a board. Nina's voice gets tight. Even Pantin, who is quite old, has never heard that before. Mochi stays calm and curious: "Shall we go see?" And off they go across the soft island, all together, because together is more reassuring. Mochi in front, Pantin creaking…

A bedtime story for children. In Emma's room, there is a little nightlight shaped like a mushroom, with one tiny round button. Today, for the first time, Emma is allowed to turn it on all by herself. She brings her finger closer, she hesitates, she pushes. Click. A soft, honey-colored light grows in the room, like a little sun waking up. Emma is so proud: all by herself, like a big girl. At bedtime, Mom gives her the lighthouse kiss and tells her that it stays lit all night long, even if the nightlight falls asleep. Emma falls asleep with Mochi, her lovey, and the little honey-colored light close beside her. Then the Evening World wakes up: the nightlight becomes a little moon, the rug a soft island, and Mochi says good evening to Pantin, Ball and Nina, as he does every night. But tonight, the little moon blinks, once, twice, and goes out completely. The nightlight is having a little mood. In the dark, Ball bounces every which way, and Nina can't see her paws anymore. Mochi stays calm: "Look closely. The…

That evening, in Pumpkin Hollow, it was Halloween night, the one when, usually, all the children run outside from door to door for the great candy hunt. But tonight… listen. It was raining. A soft, fine rain, falling on the pumpkins and making Lantern Square glisten, a velvet rain. Zélie is quite disappointed: with this rain, the candy hunt is impossible, and even her big hat goes drip. Réglisse, on the other hand, is perfectly happy, warm by the fire: rain, at least, is a noise that doesn't frighten, soft, plip plop plop, like a lullaby. Then there's a knock at the door: it's Boubou the monster, all wet and all sad, come to fetch Zélie. But it's raining far too hard, and every house has switched off its lanterns. The lovely Halloween party seems to have well and truly fallen through. So, rather than sulking over the ruined evening, Zélie has a warm idea: what if, instead of running outside, they threw the party indoors? Invite the friends, light the candles, share the sweets by the fire, tell stories while…

That evening, in Pumpkin Hollow, the air was fresher than usual: winter was really on its way. And on Lantern Square, everyone was worried, because during the night something had appeared: an enormous silvery web, stretched between the two tallest trees, shimmering in the fog. Réglisse panics at once (a big web means a big spider, and he doesn't like spiders one bit, with all those legs!). The whole Hollow wants to burn the web, tear it down, get rid of it as fast as possible. «That spider is going to catch us all!» But Zélie, looking more closely, notices that the web isn't shaped like a trap: it has patterns, neat regular designs… it looks more like knitting! And indeed, the one who wove it is no wicked spider, but Tricotine, a spider who knits. Because Tricotine, with her eight nimble legs, sets no traps at all: she knits lovely scarves and cosy jumpers to protect the Hollow from the cold that's coming. What everyone took for a threat was in fact a gift. It only takes going to talk to her, instead of…

A bedtime story for children. This morning, the kitchen smells of toast and warm milk. Emma eats her applesauce: one spoonful for her, one spoonful for Mochi, her lovey, sitting on her lap. And oops, a bit of applesauce lands right on Mochi's ear, the softest one, the one Emma always holds tight. Mom sees it right away: Mochi needs a bath, a little spin in the machine. Emma worries, but Mom promises straight away that tonight he'll come back, all soft, all clean, right against her. So Emma watches Mochi leave in the little basket, presses her ear against the machine door and waits for her lovey. And when evening comes, Mochi is back, just as promised, fluffier than ever and smelling of lavender. Once Emma is asleep, the nightlight turns into a little moon and the rug into a soft island: the Evening World wakes up. At the shelf hello, Pantin sniffs loudly and calls him Mochi who smells like flowers, Ball bounces twice to make sure it's really him, and Nina finds him fluffier than usual. But Mochi stays quiet,…

That evening, in Pumpkin Hollow, it was THE big night: the Great Costume Parade! Once a year, all the villagers dress up and parade across Lantern Square, and the finest costume of the night is chosen. And this year, Zélie wanted to win, very, very badly. Her idea: to conjure up, with one wave of her wand, a magnificent Star-Princess costume, with a shining gown, a crown of moonlight and a rainbow train. The only trouble is that Zélie's spells always do something other than planned… But tonight, she's sure of it, it's going to work! She raises her hazel wand high, concentrates with all her might, and casts: «Abracada… PRINCESS!» Whoops. Instead of a shining princess, there she is, turned into a big round pumpkin. Oh no! Her lovely costume is a complete flop. At first, Zélie feels like crying with shame. But when she waddles onto the Square, all round and clumsy, something unexpected happens: everyone bursts out laughing, a joyful, warm laugh. Her funny pumpkin sets off a wild, happy mood, and the party,…

That evening, in Pumpkin Hollow, Zélie and Réglisse were strolling right at the end of the path, where no one ever goes anymore. Because at the end of the path there is an old, leaning house, with shutters that bang and boards that creak, that everyone calls the Scary House. Réglisse begs that they don't go that way: everyone knows it's haunted, it creaks, it bangs, it moans in the night. But Zélie pricks up her ears and really listens to the sound the house makes. And the more she listens, the less it sounds like a scary noise. «Don't you think it's more of a sad noise?» Drawing closer, ever so gently, they finally understand: it is neither a ghost nor a monster. It sounds more like someone crying softly. Because the Scary House, in truth, is above all a very lonely house. Since no one comes to visit anymore, it feels abandoned, and all its creaks are just its big sobs. It only takes Zélie and Réglisse going in, lighting a little lamp, speaking to it kindly and keeping it company, for its shutters to stop…

A bedtime story for children. Here is Emma's room: a Big Bed, a round little rug, and a window with a curtain that breathes. On the shelf, three friends wait for evening: Pantin, all made of wood, Ball, all round, and Nina, standing up straight. And in Emma's arms, there is Mochi, her lovey. During the day, Mochi never talks: he watches and listens. At the park, Emma builds a sand tower, so tall. Then she slips. The tower crumbles, her knee gets a little boo-boo, and her heart gets a big sorrow. Mom comes running and holds Emma very tight, and Emma holds Mochi even tighter. A kiss on the boo-boo, a kiss on the heart, and the tears stop, one by one. Right against her, Mochi's heart goes poc-poc. He has just kept this cuddle for tonight. At bedtime, Emma snuggles into the Big Bed. Mom gives her the lighthouse kiss, the one that stays lit all night long, and Emma falls asleep in the middle of her word. Then the room changes: the nightlight turns into a little moon, the rug into a soft island. This is the…

A bedtime story for children. Tonight, in Bellhill, nothing happens. No phone call, no mission, no hiccup. It's the last evening of the season, and the red fire station is simply getting ready for bed. Marco takes out his cloth, Nino takes his own, and together they polish Big Red, thinking back over everything that's happened since that very first mission. So the stories come back, one by one, like soft little pictures: the little cat right at the top of the big oak tree, the striped ball on the school roof, Pompon trembling before the soft nee-naw was ever invented, the mayor's key at the bottom of the fountain, Curly stuck in the hedge, the candlelit evening, the cake saved just in time, the little hedgehog, and the night of the big wind. Then come the boots, lined up from the biggest to the smallest, and Nino's evening round: he crosses the village one last time to say good night to everyone, to the bakery that still smells of bread, to the fountain singing all on its own, to the flagpole, to the…

That evening, in Pumpkin Hollow, it was the great Halloween candy hunt. All the children were running from door to door, little bags in hand, calling «trick or treat!». And at Granny Brindille's there was a special game: whoever guessed how many sweets were hidden in the big magic jar would win THE biggest bag of sweets in the Hollow. And guess who found the right number, one thousand three hundred and twelve? Little Zélie! What a bag! It was so big that Zélie couldn't even carry it: she had to drag it along the ground with all her might. Red sweets, golden sweets, soft caramels, spiral lollipops, chocolates shaped like bats… more sweets than she had ever seen in her whole life. All that, just for her! But very soon, that big treasure all to herself started to weigh a little heavy on her little heart. Because all around her, Zélie saw her friends with their tiny little bags. So, ever so gently, one very simple idea made its way: what if she shared? With each sweet given away, a smile lit up, and Zélie…

A bedtime story for children. A big wind picked up over Bellhill at the end of the day, a wind that bangs the shutters, rolls the buckets, and sets the branches dancing. In a single gust, it scatters three little hiccups across the village: laundry blown away in a garden, a market stall knocked over on the square, and above all Bruno's sash, the one that always trails on the ground, now caught right at the top of the flagpole. The first two hiccups are sorted out quickly, all together, in good spirits. But the sash is right at the top, and the wind keeps blowing in gusts. Bruno looks up at it from below, devastated: it's his festival sash, the one he's worn ever since he became mayor. The big ladder goes up, but it shakes in the gusts, and Captain Marta stops it right away: you don't climb a ladder in wind like this. Everyone falls silent, and it's Nino who finds the answer, by listening rather than looking. The wind doesn't blow without stopping: between two gusts, there's a lull, a few seconds of perfect…

That evening, in Pumpkin Hollow, it was Halloween night, the most beautiful night of the year. But something was missing… Can you feel it too? Usually, in the sky, there is a great round golden moon that lights the whole Hollow with its soft glow. And tonight, the sky was pitch black: the moon was not there. On Lantern Square, everyone suddenly felt a little smaller, a little more alone, even Réglisse, who doesn't like the dark one bit. Because the dark, says Réglisse, trembling, is where all the things you can't see are hiding, and the things you can't see are the worst. But Zélie keeps her cool: the moon doesn't just disappear like that, it must be somewhere. So, ever so brave, she decides to climb up and find it, to give the Hollow back its lovely soft light. Searching through the night, Zélie and Réglisse discover that the moon had not run away: for Halloween night, it had simply felt like dressing up too! Hidden behind its costume, it no longer dared show itself. It only takes a little tenderness and a…

A bedtime story for children. The news spreads through the whole neighborhood faster than a gust of wind: Lena, Bellhill's nurse, has found a little hedgehog hurt at the foot of a bush, one paw injured and his spines full of leaves. Within minutes, the whole village comes running, and that's where the real problem of the evening begins. Because there are too many people, too many voices, too many hands reaching out all at once. The little hedgehog, terrified, curls up into a ball and refuses to move. Everyone genuinely wants to help, and it's exactly that kind of help, all at the same time, that stops Lena from doing her job. They try shouting orders to organize things: everyone shouts at once, and the hedgehog curls up even tighter. They try to pick him up, and six pairs of hands politely bump into each other. They bring him a piece of apple, some bread, a lettuce leaf, all at once, and he touches none of it. So Nino suggests the one idea that was missing: everyone takes turns. A big circle, three steps…

A bedtime story for children. On Bellhill's square, a strange smell drifts over the cobblestones, a smell of hot sugar turning to burnt. It's coming from Rosa's bakery: she has been preparing the big cake for the village festival since morning. Her old oven, temperamental for years, has decided tonight to heat up twice as hot as it should. When the fire station arrives, there's smoke but not a single flame: it's just an overcooked cake, nothing more, and it's the only fire of the whole season. Rosa, though, is heartbroken. The festival cake is black on top, night has already fallen, and she keeps saying she'll never have time to make another one. Marco instinctively reaches for the hose, and Captain Marta stops him just in time: soaking the bakery would flood everything for nothing. They open all the windows and wave dish towels around, but the smoke just swirls around the room. It's Nino who looks somewhere else, not at the smoke but at the oven. He spots the little damper stuck at the back, the one no one…

That evening, in Pumpkin Hollow, it was a big night: the choosing of the pumpkin of honour, the one that would sit right at the top of Lantern Square to watch over the Hollow all through Halloween night. And this year, the one chosen was Croquette! An adorable pumpkin, who talks a lot, a lot, a lot (of course, a pumpkin has no arms to wave about, so it talks). But Croquette has a tiny, minuscule, teensy problem: she doesn't want to be scary. Because tomorrow, Granny Brindille is to carve her a face, and everyone wants it to be TERRIBLE: big mean eyes, pointy teeth, a frightening grin. But Croquette has no wish at all to frighten the children. She'd just like a nice face, a smile, something gentle. But a pumpkin of honour that isn't scary, does such a thing even exist? With the help of Zélie and Réglisse, Croquette finally dares to say out loud what she feels deep down. And Granny Brindille, wise witch that she is, carves her the face she really wanted: a big, warm smile. That night, everyone discovers that a…

A bedtime story for children, and the grand finale of the Tom the Pirate season. The sky is pink and violet, the sea is perfectly calm, and on the smallest pirate ship in the world Tom opens his chest one last time before nightfall. Thirteen keepsakes, thirteen small treasures given back along the way. Then the sail shivers. One final map arrives, made of light, carrying a song barely above a whisper. Sail to the lagoon where the lights are dancing, a lullaby has gone missing, give it back its tune. The map leads to Lantern Lagoon, the most peaceful place in the whole archipelago, where hundreds of little lights dance on the water in the evening, going tin, tin, like tiny bells. But tonight they are trembling and flickering. Mama Lantern is so tired that she has forgotten the lullaby that settles her little lanterns, and without it not one of them really wants to sleep. The first idea falls flat: by talking to the little lights and asking them to help look, Tom wakes every single one of them, and they chime…

A bedtime story for children. Tonight is the community soup night on Bellhill's square: Rosa stirs her big pot, the tables are set outside, and the whole village is sitting down together, Nino and Captain Marta included, no uniforms, just to share a meal. Then there's a loud electric click, and everything goes out at once. The streetlamps, the windows, the fairy lights. Complete darkness. A brief, surprised silence falls over the square, then a worried murmur runs through the children sitting around the pot. The darkness, all at once, feels very big and very thick. Bruno wants to call the next town, the region, maybe the whole country. Captain Marta, for her part, starts by blowing out a candle, exactly the way she has everyone else breathe out when they start to panic. They try Big Red's big spotlight: the light is so strong that everyone squints, and shadows grow huge on the walls, even more startling than the dark. They try fixing the big electrical box: it's locked, and the repairman won't come until…

That evening, in Pumpkin Hollow, Zélie and Réglisse were strolling across Lantern Square, under the soft fog, when they heard a funny noise: a «boo», followed by a «hic». It sounded like a ghost that had swallowed the wrong way! Curious, Zélie wants to go and see, while Réglisse would rather head home and dive under the covers. Behind the biggest pumpkin, all white and all soft, there is a little ghost named Hippo, practising in his corner. Poor Hippo so wants to go «BOO», a great, truly frightening BOO. But each time, it's stronger than him: «BOOO-hic!» That ridiculous hiccup spoils everything, and Hippo is in despair. Never, he thinks, will he frighten anyone with a hiccup like that. He could almost cry with shame. So Zélie, instead of pitying him, bursts into a big, kind laugh: that «boo-hic» is the funniest thing she's ever heard! And little by little, Hippo understands that he doesn't need to be scary at all to be wonderful. His little flaw, that hiccup that so despaired him, becomes his finest quality:…

A bedtime story for children. Tonight, the fire station leaves town. Up on the hillside, at Josette's farm, the hens are heading in clucking and the old tractor rests near the barn. A little lamb named Curly was still playing outside, chasing one last golden butterfly, when she slipped under the big hedge and got stuck, her wool caught in the branches. The phone rings very softly at the fire station. Nino, Pompon and Captain Marta head up the hill in Big Red, while Marco stays behind to tidy the garage. Up there, Curly bleats, pulls, struggles, and the more she pulls, the tighter the hedge grips her. Her mother, on the other side, worries and paws at the ground. They try pulling gently, with two hands, then three: the wool tightens and the lamb cries out. They bring out the big shears to cut the hedge, but it's old, thick, full of nests, and trimming it would take all night. So Nino lies down in the grass, gets right down to the lamb's level, and understands the real problem: Curly isn't trapped by the…

A bedtime story for children. On Bellhill's square, the old stone fountain sings softly, as it does every evening. Bruno the mayor hurries across the square, his sash trailing behind him, holding the big key to the town hall, the one he's always liked to spin around his finger. One spin too many, and plop: the key vanishes to the bottom of the basin, among the coins and the dead leaves. But tomorrow morning, the whole school's snack party is happening in that very hall. Bruno already pictures disaster: the children out on the sidewalk, the party cancelled, and he paces in circles, repeating that it's all his fault. The fire station arrives, soft nee-naw and all, and Captain Marta starts with the one useful thing: asking him to breathe, and to explain calmly. They try magnet fishing: the key is brass, the magnet catches nothing. They try the little net: the handle is too short, the water too murky. Bruno suggests draining the whole fountain, which would take all night and leave the heron without his pond. So…

A small, sad, grey map arrives on the Royal Sardine. That is unusual, because Tom's maps normally spill over with colour. This one comes from Tickle Island, the funniest place in the whole archipelago, where the sand goes heehee under your feet and sets off fits of giggles. Except that the island has lost its laugh. Off to the island where the sand laughed out loud, the laughter has run away, go and bring it home. When Tom and Moustache land, the sand is grey, dull and silent. The island explains that once the boats stopped calling in, it was left on its own for days and then weeks, and after being alone that long, it forgot how to laugh. A laugh needs somebody to laugh with. Moustache, by now a proper little pirate after a whole season at sea, tries to get the island going with funny faces, jokes and a handstand on two arms. Nothing works. You cannot force anyone to laugh, and the harder he tries, the less it happens. What the island needs is not jokes, it is company, and plenty of it. So Tom goes off to…

A bedtime story for children. Tomorrow is the village festival in Bellhill, and the fire station is going to parade with Big Red, lights flashing and siren blaring. Everyone is thrilled, except one: Pompon, the station's dog, who slips all the way to the bottom of his boot the moment he hears the word siren. His ears flatten, his nose trembles, and he refuses to come out. Because Big Red's real siren, the one that wails, hurts his ears. A dog hears much farther and much louder than we do: what sounds just a little loud to us becomes, for him, a wall of noise. And tomorrow, that wall is going to sweep through the whole village for a whole hour. They try petting him and giving him treats: Pompon takes the treat, and goes straight back into his boot. They try ear protectors: he shakes his head until they fall off, and hides even further away. So everyone falls quiet, and Nino asks the question no one had thought to ask. What if it wasn't up to Pompon to get used to the noise, but up to the noise to adapt to…

That evening, in Pumpkin Hollow, the fog was very soft and the air smelled of cold, the kind of cold that nips the tip of your nose and announces that winter is arriving on tiptoe. And in the Hollow, when the cold arrives, there is only one thing to do: the famous Night-Warming Soup, the one that warms you right down to your toes, even the toes at the very back. Zélie and Réglisse are already delighted… but Granny Brindille, the old witch, is pacing about, quite distraught. «I've lost my recipe!» The recipe for the Night-Warming Soup, learned from her own granny, who had it from HER granny. Granny Brindille has known it by heart for a hundred years, but tonight, poof, the magic words have flown away. She remembers the cauldron, she remembers the fire… but the recipe itself has vanished from her head, and the panic is beginning to rise. Rather than searching harder and harder, which muddles everything up, Zélie invites Granny Brindille to sit down, to breathe, to remember gently the gestures, the smells, the…

The map that arrives this evening smells of warm cake, and its letters wobble a little. It comes from Granny Coquille, the oldest and wisest turtle in the sea, whose shell carries a seashell for each thing she has learned. She has forgotten something important: a treasure hidden not at the bottom of the sea, but somewhere inside her own head. Tomorrow is the smallest baby turtle's very first birthday, and for a hundred years it has been Granny who bakes the big cake everybody looks forward to. Except the recipe has flown out of her memory like a flock of little birds. Moustache wants to go fast and mixes everything any old way: flour, salt, pepper, jam. The result is grey, sticky, and tastes of wet sock. Nothing is urgent, nothing is ever urgent, smiles Granny: a good cake will not be hurried, and you do not find a treasure by running. Then Tom has an idea. The recipe is not lost at all, it is scattered through the memories of everyone who has tasted that cake over a hundred years. So they set off to visit…

A bedtime story for children. In Bellhill, in the evening, once class is over, a small group of children always stays behind at after-school care, waiting to be picked up. That evening, right at the top of the school's pointy roof, something round, striped red and yellow, glints in the last light: the class's big ball has flown off all by itself, carried away by a mischievous gust of wind, and tomorrow is the big game. At the fire station, Nino and Marco are polishing Big Red when the phone's little bell rings. Bruno the mayor is already there, his sash trailing on the ground as always, convinced it's about to rain that very night and that every fire station in the country must be called. Captain Marta asks him to breathe for a moment: first, they'll take a calm look. The big ladder reaches the edge of the roof, but the ball is farther off, on the steep slope where the tiles turn fragile. Marco tries the pole and the net, takes aim three times, and only sends the ball rolling further away. So Nino looks at…

There is a little village you won't find on any map: Pumpkin Hollow. And tonight is a very special night, the funniest night of the year, Halloween night. On Lantern Square, all the pumpkins are grinning their big gap-toothed grins, the fog is as soft as candyfloss, and the dead leaves, when you step on them, giggle! High up in the biggest pumpkin lives Zélie, the kindest little apprentice witch in the world, with her far-too-big hat, and Réglisse, her round black cat, the most easily scared in all of Pumpkin Hollow. But tonight, in the bedroom, a funny little tremble rises from under the bed. Réglisse is sure it's a horrible monster. And it is one, a real one… except that this monster, Boubou, doesn't want to frighten anyone. All he'd like, deep in his big furry heart, is a friend, so he doesn't have to stay all alone in the dark, under the bed. So, instead of screaming or running away, Zélie does something very simple: she holds out her hand, she says hello, and she listens. And little by little, the fear…

A bedtime story for children. In Bellhill, a small round town tucked between the market square and the fields, stands an old red fire station with a pointy roof and a big bell right at the top. Tonight, the whole station is having dinner around the big table, and at the end of the bench, so small in his big uniform, sits Nino. In one corner, curled up at the bottom of a boot far too big for him, Pompon, the station's dog, snores softly, dreaming of a great big bone. Then the phone rings, light as a little bell. On the village square, Praline, Rosa the baker's little cat, has climbed all the way to the top of the big oak tree, frightened by a test firecracker for the festival. She has gone so high she no longer dares move, clinging to the very last branch, tiny in the night. Bruno the mayor wants to call every fire station in the country. Captain Marta, though, never runs: she asks him to breathe first, and to take a good look. The big ladder rises, and rises, and stops: three branches too short. Marco grabs…

This morning, on the bluest sea in the world, a fog has settled so thick that Moustache cannot even see his own arms. Tom holds out a hand and they hold on tight, so as not to lose one another. Then a map arrives, damp with mist and almost impossible to read. Where the fog hides the sea and the sky, close your eyes, listen, and you will find what counts. A family of seals has got lost in the fog of the Lost Cove, and little Pilou has been separated from his dad. With their eyes no use to them, Tom and Moustache edge forward by ear, and eventually catch Pilou's small voice, calling out as he goes round in circles. The first idea is to shout the father's name as loudly as possible. But in fog, sound bounces off everything and you can no longer tell where anything is coming from. The more everyone shouts, the more lost the father seal becomes. They need something else: a sound that Pilou and his dad would know among a thousand others. So Tom asks Pilou to sing, not his father's name, but the low little song…

This morning Moustache has a genuine crisis on his hands. With eight feet he needs sixteen socks, and he can only find three, none of them matching. Where do lost socks actually go? That, they say, is the greatest mystery in the whole sea. And just then, a map starts to shiver at the tip of the sail. Sail to the cove where everything that gets lost comes back. So there really is, at the far end of the archipelago, an astonishing beach made not of sand but of socks: whole mountains of them, dunes with spots, with stripes, with stars. Every sock in the world that ever went missing washes up there. Little Léa has lost the red and white striped sock belonging to her teddy Nounours, who now has one cold foot. But an old crab watches over all of it: the Keeper of Lost Socks, who has been sorting and filing for a hundred years. Moustache plunges his eight arms into a dune at random, sends socks flying everywhere and ends up squirting ink across the Keeper's whole filing system. Among forty-two thousand red and…

That evening, the sky was turning all orange, like a mandarin: it was the end of the day. And in front of the school's big blue gate, someone was waiting, right on time, as always, as promised. Do you know who? Mum. When the little bell rang and the gate opened ever so gently, a tiny little girl with a slightly-too-big backpack ran across the yard: Lila, throwing herself into her arms. Mum hugs her tight, tight, and breathes in her hair, which smells of school: pencil, paint, and a little bit of snack. «I missed you, you. Come on, let's go home, I'll hold your hand. And tell me, as we walk… was school good today?» So, one by one, Lila takes out of her pocket all the little treasures of her day. There's the slide and taking turns, the paint that stains, the tiny crumb tasted on the tip of the spoon, the shy friend who became a real one, the zip finally done up on her own. Telling her day, putting it into words in Mum's hand, is like living it a second time, more softly, and tucking each little feeling into…

The sky turns black above the archipelago, and it starts to grumble. Boom. Then boom-boom. Every night the same storm comes back and frightens everybody. But Granny Coquille, the oldest and wisest turtle in the sea, sends Tom the Pirate a reassuring map: go up and take a look, this is no nasty storm. When the sky goes boom and the sea takes fright, climb up to the giant: he wants to play, not to steal. The Royal Sardine cannot sink, so the crossing turns into a fairground ride: up she goes on the wave, whee, and down the other side, whee. And between claps of thunder, you can even hear somebody laughing up there, inside the big black cloud. It is Boum-Boum, an enormous giant made of clouds who claps his hands to make the thunder and blows to make the wind, purely for the fun of it. When Tom asks him to stop, everything gets worse: a sad cloud giant cries, and that makes an even bigger storm. You cannot simply order someone to stop playing. Granny Coquille arrives at her own unhurried pace and whispers the…

That morning, at Lila's school, the sun comes softly through the window. Lila hangs her coat under her own little-sun label and sings a bit of the morning song. But this morning, there's something different: near the big blue gate, there's a child Lila has never seen before. A little boy, a brand-new jumper, a backpack clutched tight against him. He doesn't run, he doesn't play, he just stands there, right at the edge, against the wall. «Here's a new friend,» says Miss Lou. «His name is Sacha, and it's his very first day.» But Sacha says nothing, he looks at his shoes and holds his backpack a little tighter still. All morning, he stays in his corner: he doesn't go to the blocks, nor the cars, nor toward anyone. He's far too shy, and his little heart is surely beating very fast. Lila remembers her own first day very well, and the big lump she had in her tummy. So, without rushing Sacha, she comes over ever so gently, she sits down beside him without asking anything, she holds out a block, then a smile. Little…

Since the middle of the night, a deep rumble has been shaking the whole archipelago of the Thousand Coves, and nobody is sleeping. Moustache recognises the sound straight away: it is the Kraken, the largest creature in the sea, so huge that all anyone ever sees of him is his arms, and every sailor is frightened of him. The map that arrives is soaked through, as though it had been crying. Head for the big one who scares you in the dark, it says, because the biggest of giants is carrying a great sorrow tonight. On the Royal Sardine, Tom works it out quickly: the Kraken is shouting go away, and weeping at the same time. Someone who is crying is not someone who wants to hurt you, they are someone who is hurting. The giant has lost Étoilette, a tiny pink starfish who sings him a lullaby every evening and without whom he cannot fall asleep. And the more he churns up the sea searching for her, the further out he risks pushing her. Tom's first idea is to look by lantern light. But at night the sea glitters…

That morning, at Lila's school, the sky was all grey with a little chilly wind: proper coat weather. And Miss Lou has just clapped her hands: they're going out to play in the yard! Everyone runs to fetch their coat from their hook. Lila puts on her lovely yellow coat, one sleeve, then the other. Just one thing left to do: close the zip. «And that, I can do all by myself, like a big girl.» Except the zip does not agree. It jams, it catches, it refuses to go up. Lila pulls, pulls again, gets a little cross… but nothing works. And up comes the big lump in her throat, that urge to cry when you can't do it and you'd so said you were a big girl. Asking for help, that's almost harder than the zip itself. So, ever so gently, Lila learns something very important: asking for help isn't being a baby, it's even very clever. She goes to Miss Lou, who doesn't do the zip for her, but SHOWS her: you hold the bottom firmly, you line it up, you pull straight. And the next time, Lila almost manages all on her own. Then she…

That morning, at Lila's school, the sun comes softly through the window. Lila has hung her coat under her own label with the little sun, she's sung the morning song, and she knows now that Mum always comes back. But there's a tiny something in her tummy this morning that she's pretending not to hear: a need to wee, very small at first, like a polite little «knock-knock». «Not just yet. Later,» Lila tells herself. Because to wee at school, you have to go to THE school toilets, and that's not like home. Over there, everything is new, and there's above all… the flush, with its big noise that makes you jump. So Lila squeezes her knees a little and waits, while the little «knock-knock» grows stronger and stronger. Luckily, Doudou-Hibou is watching, and shares a very simple trick: when the little «knock-knock» in your tummy comes, you tell someone straight away, you go without waiting, and for the scary flush, you can cover your ears and blow out a big breath. Reassured, Lila finally dares to go, all by herself,…

Another sung map for Tom the Pirate and his friend Moustache, aboard the Royal Sardine. This one is crumpled all over and, oddly enough, it smells of pepper. Course set for the island that goes atchoo all day long: find whatever is tickling it, and you will be back by night. An island that sneezes, atchoo after atchoo, from morning until evening? Moustache does not believe a word of it. And yet, somewhere in the Thousand Coves, a perfectly round island with a hill shaped like a nose really does have an itchy nose, and nobody for miles around is getting any sleep. It was an exhausted little seagull who sent out the call. Something is tickling the island right at the top, in the one place it cannot reach. Tom and Moustache try to climb up, but with every atchoo the ground heaves, the sneeze flings them into the sky and drops them back in the water. There is simply no climbing an island while it sneezes. In the end it is the little seagull who owns up, rather embarrassed: while building her nest up there, she…

That morning, at Lila's school, a warm, green smell is drifting down the corridor: it comes from the canteen. Lila lifts her little nose, she sniffs once, twice, and before she even knows what it is, she blurts out a big «yuck!». Her too-big backpack clutched to her, with her cuddly's ear poking out, Lila has already decided she won't like it. In the reading corner, before the canteen, someone is listening: Doudou-Hibou, the cuddly who never moves in front of grown-ups. And when the teacher steps away toward the window, the little owl opens one eye and asks, ever so gently: what if, before saying «yuck», we tasted just one tiny crumb, no bigger than nothing, on the tip of the spoon? So, ever so brave, Lila dips the little green spoon into the mysterious dish and tastes just a tiny bit. And there, surprise! It's not so terrible after all. It might even be rather good. And if she doesn't like it, that's perfectly fine: you have every right not to like something, as long as you've tasted it first. This story…

Tom the Pirate is like no other pirate. Aboard his tiny Royal Sardine, he is not after gold: he looks for lost treasures so he can hand them back to whoever is missing them. This morning a soaking wet map floats up from the bottom of the sea, drawn in fish scales, its letters blowing little bubbles as they go. The sail shivers, and the map sings its song: dive straight down where the sea turns blue, listen to the silence, and you will find something better. It comes from Marée, a mermaid who has lost her voice just before the great Concert of the Waves, the evening when the dolphins, the whales and the baby fish all wait for her to sing the highest, loveliest note in the world. Tom and Moustache go down to where everything turns blue and calm. They head first to the crab pharmacist, who mixes a potion with a pinch of sea pepper. Bad idea: Marée sneezes so hard that every jar in the shop goes flying. You cannot bottle a voice, sighs the crab. So Tom listens to the map properly. If Marée's voice is not lost…

That day, at Lila's school, the morning has been busy: painting, blocks, the name song, snack. And now the classroom light is all soft, Miss Lou has half-closed the curtains: it's quiet time, nap time. Everyone goes to their little bed with their cuddly… all the children rest, all of them, except one: Lila, eyes wide open, heart beating a little fast. «I don't sleep at school,» whispers Lila. «I only sleep at home, in my bed, with Mum not far away. Here, I can't.» Closing your eyes far from home is all new, and it's a little bit scary. Luckily, in the quiet of the nap room, a friend is watching close by: Doudou-Hibou, the cuddly from the reading corner, who gently opens one eye. Very softly, Doudou-Hibou tells Lila a lovely secret: resting is not the same as sleeping. You don't have to sleep; you can just close your eyes, listen to your breathing, and put your hand on your heart, where the little cuddle-button keeps Mum's love close by. Little by little, Lila's body relaxes. This story helps your child…

Gently preparing for the arrival of a little brother or sister. That evening, in the Great Cozy Forest, inside the big hollow oak, Mommy Bear places Noisette's paw on her round tummy and shares a secret: a baby is growing in there, all warm. A little brother. In Noisette's heart, first comes a big joyful « oh »… then a small cold shadow: what if he takes all the room? The whole house, all the love? That worry, so tender and so real, is one many children feel before a new baby arrives. Here it is never mocked: it is welcomed, named, and soothed. With Mommy, and then the old Stag of the firefly clearing, Noisette discovers a very simple image: when you light a new firefly next to Lulu, the first one shines no less brightly. There is just more light in the house. Love doesn't split in two, it multiplies. Then comes the waiting, the seasons going by, the tiny slippers tucked in a corner, and at last the night when Pinpin arrives, so small, his paw wrapped around Noisette's finger. The cold shadow has melted like…

That morning, at Lila's school, it's nearly snack time, and Miss Lou has a very important job to hand out, a proper big-kid job: setting the table, one plate in front of each chair, not too many, not too few, just the right amount. «Me! Me me me!» cries Lila, thrilled at the thought of being chosen as helper of the day. Proud as can be, Lila takes the stack of plastic plates and gets to work. She sets one down, then another, then three at once on the same chair, then forgets a chair, then puts two on top of a plate already there… And when she's finished, it isn't really «one plate per chair»: it's a fine little muddle! So, without giving up, and with a little nudge from Doudou-Hibou, Lila learns to do things ever so slowly: one chair, one plate, you point with your finger, you count, one, two, three. By slowing down and counting carefully, the muddle turns, little by little, into a nicely set table, exactly right. This story accompanies your child in their very first learning steps: counting, matching one…

An adventure story for children, and the very first episode of Tom the Pirate. On the bluest sea in the world lies the archipelago of the Thousand Coves, the kind of place you will not find on any grown-up's map. That is where the smallest pirate ship ever built sails: the Royal Sardine, so light that no wave can ever sink her. She simply dances on top of the waves. Her captain is Tom, the kindest pirate there is. Tom never steals a thing. He hunts for lost treasures so he can give them back, and he keeps one small keepsake from each of them at the bottom of his chest. This morning he counts four. Right at the back waits his very first treasure map, drawn by a little girl, with a smiling sun and a big red cross. On board the Royal Sardine, maps are sung rather than read, and this one sings that a cuddly rabbit called Lapinou has fallen off Daddy's boat. Tom weighs anchor with Moustache, the shy octopus who hides in the teapot and squirts ink whenever he gets scared. But on the way, a big greedy pelican…

That morning, at Lila's school, a big table is covered with fresh white paper. On it, brushes and pots of colour: red like a strawberry, yellow like the sun, blue like the big gate. Miss Lou claps her hands: «Today is painting day!» All the children cheer «yay!»… all of them, except one. Lila takes a little step back. Because this morning, Lila is wearing a pretty clean dress, with little flowers, that Mum washed and that smells lovely. And paint makes stains! «Miss, I don't want to, I'll get dirty.» Lila looks at the pots of colour as though they were a little dangerous, torn between wanting to paint and fearing to spoil her lovely dress. So Miss Lou offers her a big soft smock, just for her, that protects the dress from shoulders to knees. And little by little, brush in hand, Lila dares. A touch of red, a touch of yellow, a big scribble shaped like a sun… and she discovers the pure joy of creating, no longer thinking about stains at all. This story helps your child let go a little, to accept getting their…

A heartfelt bedtime story for kids about saying sorry. This afternoon, Noisette hurt the feelings of Tim the hedgehog, and ever since, she has had a big, heavy stone sitting right in the middle of her tummy. It will not go away on its own, no matter how hard she wishes, and she has no idea at all how to mend a little mistake like that. Wise old Granny Badger takes her gently in hand and shows her how it is done. Sorry is said with your mouth, up close and truly meant, looking your friend right in the eye. But sorry is also said with your paws, by helping out and putting right whatever went wrong. It takes a little courage, and a small quiet voice at first, but it is always, always worth it in the end. A real apology, Granny Badger says, is one you mean with your whole heart, not just two quick words tossed over your shoulder. And once Noisette has truly done it, both with her words and with her actions, something wonderful happens: the heavy stone in her tummy lifts all by itself and floats clean away. She…

That morning, at Lila's school, the sun is shining. Lila has hung her coat on her own hook, the one with the little sun, she's sung a bit of the morning song, and now comes everyone's favourite time: playtime in the yard. And right in the middle of the yard stands the big red slide, which Lila gazes at with stars in her eyes. «The slide! I want to slide, right now!» The trouble is, Lila isn't the only one who wants to slide. There's Noé, a little girl with bunches, two boys with their trucks… and everyone arrives at the foot of the ladder at the very same moment! There's pushing, there's grumbling, everyone shouts «me first!». The result: a fine little tangle of children at the foot of the slide, and no one climbs, no one slides. With Miss Lou's gentle help and a little wink from Doudou-Hibou, the children discover an almost magic formula: one at a time. You make a line, you count the friends ahead of you, you wait just a little, and hop, when your turn comes, you slide for real. And the waiting, in the end,…

A soothing bedtime story for children about saying goodbye in the morning. Every single day at the gate to the clearing, it is the same little pang. It is time to say goodbye to Mama, and that one moment squeezes Noisette's heart tight and makes her bottom lip wobble. Letting go of Mama's paw is the hardest part of the whole day. So Mama leans right down and shares a piece of magic made just for her. She presses a soft kiss into the middle of Noisette's paw, and Noisette folds it up nice and tight to keep it safe and warm all day long. Whenever her heart starts to ache, she only has to press her paw to her cheek, and the kiss comes back out, still warm. And no matter what, Mama always, always comes back at the end of the day. It is the simplest little trick, and yet it carries all the warmth of home in a single, secret kiss. Armed with her secret pocket kiss, Noisette finds that she can face the whole day after all. The goodbye still stings a little, the way goodbyes always do, but now she carries a small…

That morning, something very, very important is happening. On the table, a bowl of cereal. On the chair, a brand-new little backpack, a bit too big, holding a tissue, a water bottle and a small piece of paper with a sun drawn on it. Because today, for little Lila, is her very first day of school. And in front of the big blue gate, her heart gives little hops: she'd much rather stay home, with Mum. «Home will still be here tonight, it isn't going anywhere,» Mum whispers gently. «And this morning, someone is waiting for you: a whole school, with a teacher, friends, and a coat hook all your own, with your sun drawing on it.» So, hand in hand, quietly singing the morning song, Lila steps through the big blue gate, tummy a little tight. On the other side, there is Miss Lou, all smiles, a hook with her name on it, games, and soon a little owl cuddly in the reading corner, Doudou-Hibou, who watches over things gently. Little by little, the morning knot loosens, and Lila discovers that you can feel good, even far…

A bedtime adventure for kids about the freedom to be yourself. What if a dragon dreamed, more than anything else in the whole wide world, of becoming a real knight? Standing right in front of the sign-up board at Tournebois, Pistache gazes up and dreams out loud of having his very own shining suit of armour and his very own gleaming sword. With Leo right there beside him, championing him at every single step of the way, Pistache slowly comes to understand something freeing and important. You can chase even your very biggest dreams while staying exactly, completely who you already are. You never have to change your scales, hide away your wings, or turn into somebody else just to be a hero. Leo never asks his friend to be anything other than himself, and that makes all the difference in the world. The dream is a big one for a little dragon, but Pistache holds on to it with all his heart. Standing before that great board of names, he imagines his own one written proudly among the knights of Tournebois. By the…

A tender bedtime story for kids about learning to share. "That's MY shovel!" Down by the brook, Noisette has absolutely no wish to lend out her brand-new shovel, the lovely one Papa Bear carved especially for her. And when you are little, sharing your very favourite thing in the world really is not easy at all. She holds it tight against her chest and shakes her head. But as the afternoon goes on and her friends gather round to dig and build together, something quietly starts to shift inside her. Noisette slowly discovers that lending is not at all the same as giving away. The shovel always comes back to her own paws at the end, and the fun, well, the fun only multiplies when everyone joins in and the whole riverbank turns into one big, busy building site. The more paws that join in, the bigger and grander the games by the water become, and Noisette finds she does not mind sharing one bit. By the time the sun dips low and golden over the water, the bank is dotted with little sandcastles built by many paws,…

A bedtime story for curious kids about day, night, and our great spinning Earth. When the sun slips slowly down below the hills at the very end of the day, where exactly does it go to lay its head and sleep? From the deck of the Boat-Cabin, Marin and Plume make up their minds to follow its warm golden trail, all the way to the far side of the world. Over the course of this great big journey, our two explorers come to understand something wonderfully reassuring. The sun does not go out at night, not at all, and it is never truly gone away. It simply travels onward to say a bright good morning to the children on the other side of the Earth, and it will come back round to your own window again, faithfully, every single tomorrow morning. The further they follow that golden trail, the more they understand how the whole wide world takes its turns. They sail on after that golden glow, picturing all the children far away just waking up to its light. On and on the golden glow leads them, around the curve of the…