1 stories
Unicorn stories
Rare, gentle, and only found by the kind-hearted
There is one unicorn story on BedtimeStory.kids: Grandmother, a six-minute tale for ages 3–7 in which the magic turns out to come from believing a story and passing it on.
Unicorns are rarer in the old tales than on the lunchboxes, which makes the stories that have them special. Expect gentleness, a little magic, and a child who earns a glimpse of something wonderful. Because unicorns are rare, the stories here are mostly quiet ones: a glimpse in a clearing, a promise kept, a creature that appears only to a child who has been kind. They make a good last story of the night for anyone who loves unicorns and needs winding down.
Where to start with unicorn stories
Why a story called Grandmother is the unicorn story
Grandmother takes about six minutes to read aloud and is written for ages 3–7. A child is told something wonderful by someone older, and the story is interested in what happens next: whether you believe it, whether you go looking, and what you do with what you find.
What it actually gives a child
It is marked adventurous rather than gentle, so there is movement in it, but nothing frightening and no villain. The line the story lands on is that real magic comes from belief, effort and the stories people share, which is an unusual thing to tell a small child and a useful one. It works particularly well read by a grandparent, or on a night after a child has spent the day with one.
What to read next when one unicorn is not enough
A single story is not much of an evening, so here is where the same feeling lives elsewhere. The Fairy is nine minutes of gentle enchantment for ages 4–8 and is the nearest thing to a second unicorn story. Babiole runs eight minutes for ages 5–8 and has the enchanted-creature shape that unicorn-minded children like. Moonlit Secrets of the Celestial Forest puts the rare, shy, glowing thing in a forest at night, in nine gentle minutes.
For older children, The Star Wife at seven minutes, ages 6–10, has the same sense of a creature that does not quite belong to this world. The full pool is magic stories, and fairy stories sits next door.
Keeping the magic going after the last page
One story plus five minutes of talking is a better bedtime than three stories read flat. Ask what the unicorn ate, where it sleeps, and whether it would come to your garden. Our guide to bedtime stories and imagination explains why that stretch of invention after the book closes does as much as the reading did.
It is also worth being honest with a child who has arrived here hoping for a shelf of unicorns: there is one, and it is a good one. Reading it slowly and talking about it afterwards is a better evening than hunting for a second.
If your child wants a unicorn every single night, the honest answer is to make one up. How to make up a story on the spot gives a three-step frame that works while you are half asleep.
Collections that share these stories
Ranked by how many stories they have in common with this one.
Questions about unicorn stories
How many unicorn stories are there on this site?
One: Grandmother, a six-minute story for ages 3–7. Other magical-creature stories sit in the magic and fairy stories collections.
Is Grandmother suitable for a three-year-old?
Yes. It is written for ages 3–7, has no villain and no frightening passage, and takes about six minutes to read aloud.
Where can I find more magical creature stories?
The magic stories category holds the largest group, and the fairy stories collection covers the small winged end of it.