8 stories
Sea and ocean stories
Mermaids, sailors, sea beasts and secrets under the waves
Seven stories set on, in or under the water, from a four-minute Little Mermaid to a folk tale explaining why the sea is salt. Most are listed for ages four to ten.
The sea is where stories go to be enormous. This collection has mermaids, sea kings, lighthouse keepers and children who find a whole world by putting on a snorkel. The rhythm of waves makes many of them naturally soothing.
Where to start with sea and ocean stories
1 min
Ages 1–3 · Nursery Rhymes
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
A little boat drifts down a stream in the familiar round, then continues beneath stars and past the willows in two new…
5 min
Ages 5–8 · Classic Tales
The Dolphins, the Whales, and the Sprat
Playful Dolphin Delfina and lonely Blue Whale Baleen live in the vast ocean, unaware of each other. When Delfina…
6 min
Ages 4–8 · Classic Tales
Why the Sea is Salt
In a quaint village, children wonder why the sea is salty. Brave sailor Olav embarks on an incredible voyage in his…
7 min
Ages 4–8 · Magic
Son of the Island and the Turtle
Kai, born from an enchanted island and the sea, grows up surrounded by magical friends and wise old Tiko the turtle. He…
7 min
Ages 6–10 · Magic
The Coral Queen and the Space Pirate’s Curse
Young Tim finds a mysterious map leading to an enchanted island. There, he and his friends meet the majestic Coral…
8 min
Ages 5–8 · Discovery
How Jack Went To Seek His Fortune
Young Jack dreams of adventure beyond his quiet village. He prepares diligently, builds a raft, and sets sail, facing…
8 min
Ages 3–7 · Discovery
My Sea Beast and the Bubble Garden Adventure
Isla, a little girl, embarks on her first snorkelling adventure at Sunny Shell Bay. She discovers a vibrant underwater…
16 min
Ages 6–10 · Classic Tales
The Little Mermaid
Ariel, a curious young mermaid, dreams of the human world. When she falls for Prince Eric, she makes a desperate deal…
Seven ways to get to the water
The sea does different jobs in different stories. Sometimes it is the road you travel, sometimes it is the place things are hidden, and sometimes it is the reason for everything. These seven cover all three.
Under the surface
My Sea Beast and the Bubble Garden Adventure is the friendly one: a three to seven year old gets a big creature and a garden of bubbles and nothing to worry about. The Dolphins, the Whales, and the Sprat is five minutes, gentle in mood, and makes the smallest fish the sensible one.
On top of it
How Jack Went To Seek His Fortune and Son of the Island and the Turtle are both journeys out and back. The Coral Queen and the Space Pirate's Curse throws in pirates and stars at once and suits a six to ten year old who wants everything in one story.
The Little Mermaid is not the one you are thinking of
The Little Mermaid here is retold from Hans Christian Andersen, and Andersen's version has a melancholy in it that the cartoon does not. It is the shortest story in this collection at four minutes and the one listed oldest, at six to ten, which tells you something.
It is worth reading, and worth reading knowingly. A child who has only met the singing version will have questions, and those questions are the good part. If you want the background first, our guide to Hans Christian Andersen's life and stories explains why his endings go the way they do.
Why the sea is salt, and other explanations
Why the Sea is Salt is a retold folk tale that answers a question a five year old has genuinely wondered about, and it does it with a magic mill and a greedy brother. Stories of this kind — the ones that explain something about the world — are worth keeping in your back pocket, because they convert an argument about bedtime into a question about the sea.
If your child takes to it, the folk tales from around the world collection is full of the same shape, and discovery stories collects the ones driven by wanting to know.
The question after the story
Explanation tales invite a second question, which is their best feature. Why is the sea salt, why do turtles carry shells, why does the tide come in — let your child ask and then invent an answer together rather than reaching for a fact. That is a story of your own, and it costs nothing at ten past eight.
Reading the sea aloud
Sea stories are the easiest ones to slow down, because waves are already a rhythm. Drop your pace by a third for the underwater passages and let the sentences run long. It does more for settling a child than any amount of shushing.
When the seven run out, pirate stories keeps the water and adds noise, and moon and stars stories keeps the hush and loses the salt.
| Story | Read aloud | Ages | Mood |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Little Mermaid | 4 min | 6–10 | Wistful |
| The Dolphins, the Whales, and the Sprat | 5 min | 5–8 | Gentle |
| Why the Sea is Salt | 6 min | 4–8 | Brisk folk tale |
| Son of the Island and the Turtle | 7 min | 4–8 | A journey |
| My Sea Beast and the Bubble Garden Adventure | 8 min | 3–7 | Friendly |
Collections that share these stories
Ranked by how many stories they have in common with this one.
Questions about sea and ocean stories
How many sea stories are on BedtimeStory.kids?
Seven, running from four to eight minutes read aloud and covering ages three to ten.
Is The Little Mermaid on this site the Disney version?
No. It is a retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen tale, which is quieter and sadder than the film, and it is listed for ages six to ten.
Which sea story suits a three year old?
My Sea Beast and the Bubble Garden Adventure, listed for ages three to seven. The sea beast is friendly throughout.
Are there any sea stories that explain something?
Why the Sea is Salt is a retold folk tale that answers exactly the question in its title, with a magic mill and a greedy brother.