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118 stories · part of Magic

Discovery stories

Stories about finding something: a secret, a talent, a friend, a way home

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Discovery stories

Discovery is the biggest theme on this site: 118 stories in which somebody finds something they were not looking for. A lamp, a beanstalk, a hidden door, a talent, a way home. Most read aloud in four to nine minutes.

Discovery stories start with a question. What is behind the wall? Who lives at the bottom of the garden? What can I do that I did not know I could? They reward curiosity, which is the trait a bedtime story can most usefully encourage in a child who will spend tomorrow asking why.

These tales suit children who like to explore and children who are a little nervous of it; both come away with the sense that looking closer is worth it. Many end with a discovery about the hero rather than the world, which is the best kind.

Where to start in discovery

12 of the 118 stories in this theme, picked as good first choices: the shortest, the gentlest and the best loved.

4 min Ages 3–7 · Classic Tales Goldilocks and The Three Bears

Curious Goldilocks wanders into a magical forest and discovers a charming cottage. When she finds nobody home, her…
6 min Ages 3–7 · Classic Tales The Princess and the Pea

A lonely Prince yearns for a true princess, but two grand ladies fail to impress him. Then, on a stormy night, a…
7 min Ages 3–7 · Classic Tales The Gingerbread Man

A kind old woman bakes a delicious gingerbread man who springs to life and dashes off to explore the world. He meets a…
7 min Ages 3–7 · Classic Tales The Ugly Duckling

A mother duck hatches a clutch of ducklings, but one egg is unusually large. When it hatches, the grey, scruffy…
13 min Ages 4–8 · Classic Tales Little Red Riding Hood

Little Red Riding Hood sets off through the enchanting forest to deliver a basket of goodies to her sick grandmother…
4 min Ages 4–8 · Rhyming Stories & Poems A Christmas Star

Timmy, a curious boy, loves gazing at the stars. One snowy night, he spots a new, golden star shining brightly above…
4 min Ages 4–8 · Classic Tales Dapplegrim

Agnes and Elsa, two brave sisters, live in a village where a whispered legend tells of Dapplegrim, a mischievous forest…
4 min Ages 4–8 · Magic Prince Ariel

Prince Ariel is born with extraordinary magic, destined to bring peace to Eldoria. But a wicked sorcerer, Malachor…
4 min Ages 3–7 · Classic Tales The Bow and the Lyre

In a lush forest, an abandoned silver bow and golden lyre yearn for purpose. A wise old owl encourages them to join…
4 min Ages 3–7 · Classic Tales The Crow and the Pitcher

A thirsty crow searches for water on a scorching day. He finds a pitcher, but the water is too low to reach. With a…
4 min Ages 4–8 · Classic Tales The Emperor’s New Clothes

The Emperor loves new clothes and is very proud. Two clever weavers promise to make him a magical suit, invisible to…
4 min Ages 3–7 · Classic Tales The North Wind and the Sun

The boastful North Wind challenges the gentle Sun to see who is more powerful. They agree to a contest: make a…

Three kinds of finding, and how to tell them apart

Almost every story here belongs to one of three groups, and knowing which one you have picked makes a real difference at bedtime. A child who wants treasure will not settle for a story about noticing a feeling, and the other way round.

Something hidden

The treasure stories. Aladdin and the Magic Lamp (9 minutes) and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (5 minutes) both turn on a cave and a secret, and the second is much the quicker of the two. Pandora’s Box is the one where the finding goes wrong and hope is what is left at the bottom; it suits six to ten.

Somewhere new

A door, a climb, a country over the hill. Jack and the Beanstalk is the obvious start. The Baba Yaga takes ten minutes and a steadier listener, and The Crystal Caverns of the Asteroid Belt swaps the forest for an asteroid without changing the shape of the tale at all.

Something about yourself

The quietest group, and the one to reach for when a child is worried rather than restless. The Anxious Leaf (5 minutes) is about being frightened of a change you cannot stop, and The Butterfly follows the same idea to a happier landing.

Short enough for a school night

Nine of these run to nine or more minutes, which is lovely on a Friday and hard work on a Tuesday. If you have ten minutes from bath to lights out, take one of these instead:

Longer favourites are worth saving rather than rushing. A Little Princess runs to eleven minutes and rewards a child who can hold a thread from one night to the next, and Princess Susie is the same length with rather more happening in it.

The age ranges on the cards are a reasonable guide, but the better test is whether your child can wait. A discovery story asks a listener to stay curious for several minutes before anything is explained, and a four-year-old who needs to know now will be happier with one of the four-minute tales than with a nine-minute quest, whatever the label says.

The old tales, and what these versions keep

Several of the best known discovery stories are retellings rather than the originals, and it helps to know which is which before a child asks where the story came from.

Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel come from the Brothers Grimm, whose first collection appeared in 1812. Pandora’s Box is a Greek myth, and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves comes from One Thousand and One Nights.

Two Goldilocks, on purpose

The site carries Goldilocks and The Three Bears at four minutes and Goldilocks and the FOUR Bears! at eight. The short one is the version most children already half know; the longer one is better once they do, because the surprise has somewhere to go.

Reading one without giving the surprise away

A discovery story only works once, so the first reading is worth protecting. Do not read the moral line off the page before you start, and resist naming what is in the cave while you are still walking towards it.

The useful question is not “what do you think happens next” every two pages, which flattens the pace. Ask it once, at the moment the character has to choose, then read on. Our guide to questions to ask during a bedtime story has more on where to put the pause, and bedtime stories and imagination explains why leaving the picture unfinished is the point.

When a child has worked through the ones here, the neighbouring themes are magic, which this theme sits under, and space, where the finding happens somewhere further off. For something with a map rather than a cave, try journeys.

Every discovery story, A to Z

  1. A Christmas Star4 min · Ages 4–8
  2. A Little Princess13 min · Ages 6–10
  3. Aladdin and the Magic Lamp16 min · Ages 5–8
  4. Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves19 min · Ages 6–10
  5. Dapplegrim4 min · Ages 4–8
  6. Goldilocks and the FOUR Bears!8 min · Ages 3–7
  7. Goldilocks and The Three Bears4 min · Ages 3–7
  8. Gubbon Seer7 min · Ages 5–8
  9. How Jack Went To Seek His Fortune8 min · Ages 5–8
  10. Jack and the Beanstalk14 min · Ages 4–8
  11. Lily and the Lion5 min · Ages 4–8
  12. Little Red Riding Hood13 min · Ages 4–8
  13. Long, Broad and Sharpsight7 min · Ages 6–10
  14. Moonlit Secrets of the Celestial Forest9 min · Ages 4–8
  15. Mudjee Monedo10 min · Ages 6–10
  16. My Sea Beast and the Bubble Garden Adventure8 min · Ages 3–7
  17. Pandora’s Box6 min · Ages 6–10
  18. Prince Ariel4 min · Ages 4–8
  19. Prince Darling13 min · Ages 4–8
  20. Prince Yamato Take9 min · Ages 5–8
  21. Princess Belle-Etoile9 min · Ages 4–8
  22. Princess Kwan-Yin10 min · Ages 6–10
  23. Princess Rose and the Golden Bird9 min · Ages 5–8
  24. Princess Rosetta7 min · Ages 4–8
  25. Princess Susie11 min · Ages 6–10
  26. Rapunzel21 min · Ages 5–12
  27. Son of the Island and the Turtle7 min · Ages 4–8
  28. Sunshine Stories10 min · Ages 3–7
  29. The Anxious Leaf5 min · Ages 3–7
  30. The Astrologer Who Fell into a Well6 min · Ages 3–7
  31. The Baba Yaga9 min · Ages 5–8
  32. The Bird with Nine Heads7 min · Ages 6–10
  33. The Blue Bird20 min · Ages 6–10
  34. The Bow and the Lyre4 min · Ages 3–7
  35. The Boy Who Cried Wolf6 min · Ages 4–8
  36. The Butterfly5 min · Ages 3–7
  37. The Clown and the Countryman6 min · Ages 3–7
  38. The Cobbler Turned Doctor6 min · Ages 5–8
  39. The Cock and the Jewel8 min · Ages 4–8
  40. The Crow and the Pitcher4 min · Ages 3–7
  41. The Crow Peri10 min · Ages 4–8
  42. The Crystal Caverns of the Asteroid Belt9 min · Ages 6–10
  43. The Dragon of the North8 min · Ages 5–8
  44. The Dragon Tamers7 min · Ages 4–8
  45. The Elfin Knight8 min · Ages 5–8
  46. The Emperor’s New Clothes4 min · Ages 4–8
  47. The Fairy9 min · Ages 4–8
  48. The Farmer and His Sons7 min · Ages 5–8
  49. The Fir Tree5 min · Ages 3–7
  50. The Firefly Code and the Starlit Path10 min · Ages 5–8
  51. The Fox and the Goat9 min · Ages 4–8
  52. The Giant Who Had No Heart In His Body8 min · Ages 4–8
  53. The Gingerbread Man7 min · Ages 3–7
  54. The Golden Beetle8 min · Ages 4–8
  55. The Golden Thread of the Interstellar Loom12 min · Ages 6–10
  56. The Goose Girl19 min · Ages 6–10
  57. The Great White Bear and the Trolls6 min · Ages 4–8
  58. The Hare and the Tortoise6 min · Ages 3–7
  59. The Heron5 min · Ages 3–7
  60. The Kingdom of the Ogres8 min · Ages 4–8
  61. The Lion and the Fox8 min · Ages 5–8
  62. The Lion and the Statue8 min · Ages 5–8
  63. The Lion, the Bear, and the Fox6 min · Ages 4–8
  64. The Lion, the Fox, and the Beasts10 min · Ages 5–8
  65. The Little Mermaid16 min · Ages 6–10
  66. The Little Weed7 min · Ages 4–8
  67. The Lost Melody of the Nebula Brook10 min · Ages 6–10
  68. The Mad Goose and the Tiger Forest8 min · Ages 4–8
  69. The Master Maid9 min · Ages 4–8
  70. The Missing Unicorn7 min · Ages 5–8
  71. The Monkey and the Camel6 min · Ages 4–8
  72. The Moon-Cake6 min · Ages 3–7
  73. The Nodding Tiger5 min · Ages 3–7
  74. The North Wind and the Sun4 min · Ages 3–7
  75. The Old Lion and the Fox9 min · Ages 4–8
  76. The Old Witch7 min · Ages 4–8
  77. The Peacock and the Fox6 min · Ages 4–8
  78. The Photon Harp of the Storm Nebula7 min · Ages 5–8
  79. The Pied Piper of Hamelin17 min · Ages 6–10
  80. The Pied Piper… and BUTTERFLIES!10 min · Ages 5–8
  81. The Prince and the Goblin7 min · Ages 6–10
  82. The Princess and the Pea6 min · Ages 3–7
  83. The Princess Mayblossom9 min · Ages 3–7
  84. The Princess Who Wasn’t8 min · Ages 4–8
  85. The Pumpkin Giant9 min · Ages 4–8
  86. The Rainbow Bridge of the Galactic City7 min · Ages 4–8
  87. The Ratcatcher7 min · Ages 4–8
  88. The Raven4 min · Ages 6–10
  89. The Rose and the Butterfly7 min · Ages 4–8
  90. The Shepherd and the Lion5 min · Ages 4–8
  91. The Shepherd and the Sea5 min · Ages 3–7
  92. The Sleeping Beauty In The Wood14 min · Ages 4–8
  93. The Snow Man5 min · Ages 3–7
  94. The Stag and His Reflection5 min · Ages 4–8
  95. The Stag at the Pool8 min · Ages 3–7
  96. The Stars in the Sky8 min · Ages 3–7
  97. The Stones of Five Colours and the Empress Jokwa8 min · Ages 5–8
  98. The Story of the Old Man Who Made Withered Trees to Flower9 min · Ages 4–8
  99. The Swallow and the Other Birds4 min · Ages 4–8
  100. The Tale of Tom Thumb11 min · Ages 6–10
  101. The Three Golden Apples5 min · Ages 4–8
  102. The Three Robbers9 min · Ages 4–8
  103. The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse8 min · Ages 4–8
  104. The Troll Wedding7 min · Ages 4–8
  105. The Twelve Wild Ducks7 min · Ages 4–8
  106. The Two Frogs5 min · Ages 4–8
  107. The Ugly Duckling7 min · Ages 3–7
  108. The Velvet Paw and the Throne of Stars5 min · Ages 5–8
  109. The Whispering Winds of the Galactic Well9 min · Ages 5–8
  110. The White Doe6 min · Ages 4–8
  111. The Wise Girl6 min · Ages 6–10
  112. The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing6 min · Ages 5–8
  113. Three Feathers10 min · Ages 6–10
  114. Thumbelina7 min · Ages 4–8
  115. Twinkling Feet’s Halloween7 min · Ages 3–7
  116. Whatever Happened to the Pea?5 min · Ages 3–7
  117. Why The Autumn Leaves Are Red8 min · Ages 4–8
  118. Why the Sea is Salt6 min · Ages 4–8

Questions parents ask about discovery stories

What is a discovery story?

A discovery story is one in which the main character finds something they were not expecting: an object, a place, a person or something true about themselves. On BedtimeStory.kids that covers 118 stories, from Aladdin and the Magic Lamp to The Anxious Leaf.

Which discovery story should I read to a four-year-old?

Start with Goldilocks and The Three Bears or The Crow and the Pitcher. Both run to about four minutes, both have a discovery a small child can see coming, and neither has a frightening middle.

Are these the original fairy tales?

No. Stories such as Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Jack and the Beanstalk are retellings written for reading aloud at bedtime. The original Grimm and folk versions are often longer and darker.

How long do these stories take to read aloud?

Most take four to nine minutes at an unhurried pace. The Bow and the Lyre is the shortest at three minutes; A Little Princess is the longest at eleven.