175 stories
Adventure stories
Quests, journeys and heroes who leave home and come back changed

This is the largest collection on BedtimeStory.kids: 175 stories about leaving home and coming back changed. Most run five to eleven minutes and suit ages 4–10.
Adventure stories are the ones that make a child sit up rather than settle down, so read them a little earlier in the evening. Quests, rescues, long roads and the satisfying journey home. Most of these have several chapters in the story-book reader, so a long one can be stopped at a cliff-hanger and finished tomorrow, which is an old trick for getting a reluctant sleeper into bed on time.
Where to start with adventure stories
12 of 175 to start with. The full list follows.
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 Tortoise and the Hare
In a lush valley, the speedy Hare challenges the steady Tortoise to a race. Hare's confidence soars, while Tortoise…
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…
3 min
Ages 3–7 · Classic Tales
The Two Soldiers and the Robber
Tomas and Juan, two brave soldiers, are returning to camp when they encounter a fearsome robber in a dark forest…
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 3–7 · Bravery & Courage
Little Red Riding Hood (A Gentler Retelling)
Little Red Riding Hood loves visiting her kind grandmother, but the woods hold a warning: beware the sly wolf. When a…
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 4–8 · Classic Tales
The Dog and the Oyster
Rex, a curious dog in a quaint seaside village, discovers a glistening oyster on the beach. Intrigued by a faint sound…
4 min
Ages 4–8 · Classic Tales
The Fox Without a Tail
Fawkes the fox loves playing tricks, but one mischievous prank goes wrong, leaving him injured and full of regret. He…
4 min
Ages 4–8 · Classic Tales
The Thief and the House-Dog
Rex, a fluffy house dog, lives happily with the kind Johnson family. One night, a cunning thief named Jack targets…
4 min
Ages 4–8 · Classic Tales
The Thieves and the Cock
Two cunning thieves plan to steal a hidden treasure from a bustling farmyard. But the wise old cock, known for his keen…
How 175 adventures actually break down
A collection this size is only useful if you can cut it into pieces. Almost every story here follows the same shape, so the practical question is not what kind of adventure it is but how far from home it goes and how long it takes to get back.
Short journeys, four to six minutes
Dapplegrim is four minutes for ages 4–8 and one of the quickest complete quests on the site. A Christmas Star is also four. Lily and the Lion at five minutes and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves at five are the two to know for a weeknight where bedtime has already slipped.
Long journeys, nine to eleven minutes
East of the Sun and West of the Moon is eleven minutes for ages 5–12 and is the most rewarding long read here, a Norwegian tale with a genuine sense of distance. A Little Princess is also eleven, retold from Frances Hodgson Burnett, and Princess Susie matches it for ages 6–10. These are weekend stories.
Adventures that still end calmly
The reasonable worry about an adventure at bedtime is that it ends on a high. Some of these do not. Moonlit Secrets of the Celestial Forest is filed as an adventure but marked gentle, and lands softly after nine minutes. Henny Penny at eight minutes and Prince Darling at five are the other two gentle ones worth knowing.
Rabbit’s Eyes, eight minutes, ends on gratitude rather than triumph and is the one to use when your child wants an adventure but you need the room quiet afterwards. If nothing here fits, the honest move is to leave the collection entirely and take a short story from gentle sleepy stories.
Where to start at each age
Why the age range matters more here
The age ranges on these stories are worth trusting. An eleven-minute quest for ages 6–10 read to a four-year-old does not fail because of the content; it fails because the child loses the thread at minute six and starts asking about something else.
Three suggestions
For three- and four-year-olds, Goldilocks and the FOUR Bears at eight minutes and My Sea Beast and the Bubble Garden Adventure at eight are written for ages 3–7 and keep one thing happening at a time. For five to eight, Aladdin and the Magic Lamp at nine minutes is the obvious classic. For six to ten, Long, Broad and Sharpsight at seven minutes gives three companions with three different talents and rewards a child who is paying attention.
Spreading a long quest over several nights
Nothing says an eleven-minute story has to be one sitting. Stopping at a natural break and picking up tomorrow teaches a child to hold a story in their head overnight, which is a real skill and a useful one. Pick the moment the hero sets off, or the moment before the last obstacle, and stop there deliberately rather than when everyone runs out of patience.
Ask one question at the break: what do you think happens next. Our guide to questions to ask during a bedtime story has more that do not sound like homework. For the full list of long ones, long bedtime stories gathers them, and stories for early readers narrows everything to the 5–8 band.
| Age | Start with | Minutes |
|---|---|---|
| 3–7 | My Sea Beast and the Bubble Garden Adventure | 8 |
| 4–8 | Dapplegrim | 4 |
| 4–8 | Jack and the Beanstalk | 6 |
| 5–8 | Aladdin and the Magic Lamp | 9 |
| 6–10 | Long, Broad and Sharpsight | 7 |
| 5–12 | East of the Sun and West of the Moon | 11 |
Every story in adventure stories, A to Z
- A Christmas Star
- A Little Princess
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream
- Aladdin and the Magic Lamp
- Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
- Babiole
- Chicken Licken
- Cinderella
- Dapplegrim
- East of the Sun and West of the Moon
- Giauna the Beautiful
- Goldilocks and the FOUR Bears!
- Grandmother
- Gubbon Seer
- Hans in Luck
- Henny Penny
- How Jack Went To Seek His Fortune
- How Molo Stole the Lovely Rose-Red
- Jack and the Beanstalk
- Lily and the Lion
- Little Blue Riding Hood
- Little Girl’s Christmas
- Little Gretchen and the Wooden Shoe
- Little Red Riding Hood
- Little Red Riding Hood (A Gentler Retelling)
- Long, Broad and Sharpsight
- Moonlit Secrets of the Celestial Forest
- Mudjee Monedo
- My Sea Beast and the Bubble Garden Adventure
- Old Sultan
- One Eye, Two Eyes, Three Eyes
- Prince Ariel
- Prince Darling
- Prince Hyacinth and the Dear Little Princess
- Prince Yamato Take
- Princess Belle-Etoile
- Princess Pink Knickers
- Princess Rose and the Golden Bird
- Princess Rosetta
- Princess Susie
- Puss in Boots
- Rabbit’s Eyes
- Rapunzel
- Riquet With The Tuft
- Rose of Evening
- Seven At One Blow
- Snow White and Rose Red
- Son of the Island and the Turtle
- Starlit Quest for the Cosmic Petal
- Sunbeam's Journey to the Ice Planet's Heart
- Sunshine Stories
- Tamlane
- The Amber Amulet of the Dragon Star
- The Ass, the Fox, and the Lion
- The Baba Yaga
- The Bear and the Two Travelers
- The Bird with Nine Heads
- The Birdcatcher, the Partridge, and the Cock
- The Blue Bird
- The Bull and the Goat
- The Butterfly
- The Cat Who Could Eat So Much
- The Chronicle of the Pancake
- The Cobbler Turned Doctor
- The Coral Queen and the Space Pirate’s Curse
- The Courteous Prince
- The Crow and the Swan
- The Crow Peri
- The Crystal Caverns of the Asteroid Belt
- The Dog and the Oyster
- The Dragon of the North
- The Dragon Tamers
- The Dwarf With The Golden Beard
- The Eagle and the Arrow
- The Elfin Knight
- The Enchanted Pig
- The Enormous Turnip
- The Fairy
- The Faithless Parrot
- The Fiery Dragon
- The Fighting Bulls and the Frog
- The Firefly Code and the Starlit Path
- The Forgotten Tales of the Meteor Witch
- The Four Wishes
- The Fox and the Leopard
- The Fox Without a Tail
- The Frog Prince
- The Giant Who Had No Heart In His Body
- The Gingerbread Knight’s Sweet Victory in Space
- The Gingerbread Man
- The Golden Beetle
- The Golden Nugget
- The Golden Thread of the Interstellar Loom
- The Golden Touch of King Midas
- The Great White Bear and the Trolls
- The Hare and the Tortoise
- The Ice Mirror of the Frost Galaxy
- The Kingdom of the Ogres
- The Lad Who Went to the North Wind
- The Light Princess
- The Lion and the Fox
- The Lion, the Fox, and the Beasts
- The Little Good Mouse
- The Lost Melody of the Nebula Brook
- The Mad Goose and the Tiger Forest
- The Magic Fishbone
- The Man and the Wooden God
- The Master Maid
- The Mischievous Dog
- The Missing Unicorn
- The Monkey as King
- The Monkey’s Heart
- The Moon-Cake
- The Mouse, the Frog, and the Hawk
- The Musicians of Bremen
- The Nightingale
- The Nodding Tiger
- The Old Lion and the Fox
- The Old Witch
- The Orchard Sprite of the Forbidden Planet
- The Photon Harp of the Storm Nebula
- The Picky Prince, the Princess and the Peanut
- The Pied Piper of Hamelin
- The Pied Piper… and BUTTERFLIES!
- The Prince and the Goblin
- The Pumpkin Giant
- The Queen Bee
- The Rainbow Bridge of the Galactic City
- The Ridiculous Wishes
- The Sapphire Crown of the Desert Moon
- The Seven Foals
- The Shepherd and the Lion
- The Sleeping Beauty In The Wood
- The Snow Queen
- The Star Wife
- The Stones of Five Colours and the Empress Jokwa
- The Story of the Old Man Who Made Withered Trees to Flower
- The Straw, The Coal, and The Bean
- The Tale of Tom Thumb
- The Thief and the House-Dog
- The Thieves and the Cock
- The Three Billy Goats Gruff
- The Three Dwarfs
- The Three Golden Apples
- The Three Princesses in the Blue Mountain
- The Three Robbers
- The Tinderbox
- The Tortoise and the Ducks
- The Tortoise and the Hare
- The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
- The Troll Wedding
- The True History of Little Golden Hood
- The Twelve Dancing Princesses
- The Two Frogs
- The Two Soldiers and the Robber
- The Velvet Paw and the Throne of Stars
- The Weeds
- The Whispering Winds of the Galactic Well
- The White Doe
- The White Duck
- The Wild Swans
- The Wise Girl
- The Wolf and the Crane
- The Wolf and the Lamb
- The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids
- The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
- The Yellow Dwarf
- Three Feathers
- Thumbelina
- Tom Tit Tot
- Twinkling Feet’s Halloween
- Whatever Happened to the Pea?
- Why The Animals No Longer Fear The Sheep
- Why The Autumn Leaves Are Red
- Why the Sea is Salt
Collections that share these stories
Ranked by how many stories they have in common with this one.
Questions about adventure stories
How many adventure stories are on BedtimeStory.kids?
175, which makes it the largest collection on the site. They run from about four minutes to eleven and cover ages 3 to 12.
Is an adventure story a bad idea right before sleep?
Only if it ends on excitement. Moonlit Secrets of the Celestial Forest, Prince Darling and Rabbit's Eyes are adventures that finish gently.
What is the longest adventure story here?
East of the Sun and West of the Moon and A Little Princess both run about eleven minutes, as does Princess Susie.
Can I read a long story across two nights?
Yes, and it works well. Stop at a deliberate point, such as the moment the hero sets out, and ask what your child thinks happens next.