Illustrated bedtime story
The Great Puddle Voyage
Ages 3 to 75 mins60 pagesEnglish
After a rainy night turns the garden path into a shining sea, Captain Nell the mouse and Bosun Click set sail in their leaf boat toward an enormous strawberry. Along the way, small garden sights become grand seafaring challenges.
- Feels like
- PlayfulAdventurousCozy
- About
- FriendshipTeamworkImaginationHelping others
Read the story
What to expect
A gently adventurous garden tale with light, manageable peril and a snug wind-down. Families may appreciate its imaginative scale, polite encounters, and the warm feeling of companions sharing a small adventure.
All night, the rain went drum-drum-drum on the garden. Inside the little tin watering can, Captain Nell slept through every tap and plink. By morning, the rain was gone. In the middle of the path was a wide, silver sea…
Well, it was only a puddle, but to a mouse, a puddle is a sea. Captain Nell asked, “Bosun, do you see what I see?” Bosun Click peered across the water. On the far shore sat the biggest strawberry they had ever seen.
Read the rest of the story
Click breathed, “An island of treasure.” Captain Nell ordered, “Fetch the ship.” Their ship was a curled brown leaf called the Dewdrop. Bosun Click pushed the Dewdrop away from shore.
Splish! they were at sea! The flower-petal sail puffed full in the breeze. Captain Nell said, “Steady as she goes.” Bosun Click said, “Steady as she goes.”
Ahead of them the water went ripple, ripple, ripple… The ripples grew into one great RIPPLE… Something yellow rose above the little ship… Click cried, “A sea MONSTER!”
It was only a duck. But to them, she was a dragon of the deep. The duck paddled closer… Nell whispered, “Hold the course, and be very polite.” “Good morning, Your Enormousness! Lovely weather for a swim,” said Nell.
Nobody had ever called the duck Your Enormousness before. The duck gave a pleased, gentle quack. With one sweep of her tail, she sent the Dewdrop halfway across the sea. Nell and Click called, “Thank you!”
The Dewdrop sailed on, past drifting petals and waving water weeds. At the edge of the puddle, the water began to turn around and around. The Dewdrop drifted straight towards the Drain… Click cried, “Captain, help!”
The little leaf boat spun once, then twice! Captain Nell clung to the mast and looked up… Above her hung a long blade of grass, heavy with raindrops. Nell shouted, “Bosun, jump for the grass!”
Click jumped with every leg he had. He caught the very tip! Nell flung him a spider-silk rope. Click pulled with all six legs.
The Dewdrop slid out of the swirl and into calm water. “Whew,” panted Captain Nell. “Nicely done, Bosun.” Too dizzy for new words, Click panted, “Nicely done, Bosun.”
At last, the Dewdrop slid onto the far shore. The strawberry towered above Nell and Click. Captain Nell announced, “We claim this island for the crew of the Dewdrop.” Tying the strawberry to the Dewdrop took all morning.
The Dewdrop bobbed beside its huge red treasure. But the kind duck paddled back to help the Dewdrop tow its treasure home. The duck gave their strawberry one last push ashore. That evening, every mouse and ant in the garden came to the feast.
The strawberry tasted sweet, cool, and a little like rain. By the third telling, Nell’s duck was as big as a house and the drain roared like thunder. Garden seas do not stay, so adventures must happen while they can. That night, Captain Nell tucked her moss blanket beneath her chin.
Nell murmured, “Goodnight, Bosun.” From a nearby leaf came Click’s sleepy answer, “Goodnight, Bosun.” Nell smiled and thought, “Close enough.” The whole garden slept, dreaming of silver seas.
The End
Play storyMore bedtime stories
The free ones come first. All you need is an account.
