Bedtime Story Competition
Read the selected Bedtime Stories and bring your kids to learn about trees.
Torill Fabry
A single mum of 2 daughters:
Astrid (16) and Amber (4)
The Bear & The Nuts
Once upon a time there was a little bear who lived in a large field full of the most beautiful flowers. But in the fall the flowers were fading away and when the snow came all were gone.
Every year during fall little bear went to visit his grandparents who lived in a large forest, unlike the flowers the trees were never gone but the leaves dropped during winter time.
Little bear asked his grandparents why there were so many trees in the forest
So grandpa bear told the story of the trees... in spring they get tiny little leaves and tiny little flowers , that grow into big leaves and nuts during summer ...
In summer the trees protect us from the sun and a lot of animals live in the trees like squirrels and birds and bees and insects ..
When fall is coming the leaves drop from the tree but also the nuts
The nuts are for the squirrels to get true winter and also for deer and other animals and some of them are going to be new trees next spring when they sprout from the ground
And that little bear is the cycle of the forest.
Oh grandpa bear if the nuts grow out to become new trees maybe i can take some home with me and grow a forest next to my house. I will get more birds and more squirrels and all kind of animals in my garden..
"That’s a great idea!" - said grandpa bear.
So when he went home after his visit little bear had a pocket full of nuts.
He put them in the ground next to his house.
The next spring new trees growing next to his house and they got bigger and bigger and when they were full grown they got nuts from themselves and grew more trees.
So little bear had not only a beautiful forest at his grandparents but also next door... were there came birds , squirrels, foxes , deer who al came to join that beautiful forest .
Little bear was very happy with his forest and so are we.
And he lived in his house in the fields with a forest next door for a very very long time
Where's the Tree?
Once upon a time there was only one tree all alone. A scary monster came with a scary T-Rex. They tried to eat the tree but he ran away. Then! There were vegetables, so they ate those instead.
A little Pig came to see the tree, but it was gone! ‘Where’s the Tree?’ He said?
Then he heard a sound, he looked around and he saw lots of other trees coming. They shouted ‘we’re coming to save our friend from the monster and the T-Tex!’ They were being led by a black bird with a yellow beak. (One Freddie has just got from a kinder egg!)
The pig agreed to help the trees and the bird find their friend. They waited until the monster and t-Rex had finished the vegetables and then they found the tree hiding in a cave.
‘Thank you for saving me!’ He said.
‘This is my new friend, a ghost!’ He continued.
They all decided to stay by the cave and made a new forest there. The little tree that was all alone was no longer alone and he grew big and strong with his friends, the little pig, the kinder bird and the ghost in the forest by the cave. The monster and t-Rex never came back because they were frightened of the big forest.
The end!
Hannah and son Freddie (4)
Torill Fabry
A single mum of 2 daughters:
Astrid (16) and Amber (4)
Yaya's Garden
There was little boy who absolutely adored being outdoors. His name was Yaya. Every morning Yaya would jump out of bed, open the door to his backyard, feed his dog and then go straight into the garden to check on the seedlings he planted with his papa, smell the new flowers that had just bloomed and pick the big, sweet berries that had ripened.
After school he would run into his garden and make sure his plants had enough water and weren’t wilting. He grew zucchinis, parsley, dill, pumpkins, fava beans, strawberries, raspberries, sweet peas, roses and poppies, but he always felt that something was missing…
When Yaya turned 6 he lost his first tooth. His parents told him that from now on a tooth fairy would come and bring him $5 for every tooth he lost. Yaya had an idea….
Time passed, he lost 7 more teeth and new big boy teeth started to come in. One morning after checking in on his zucchinis, parsley, dill, pumpkins, fava beans, strawberries, raspberries, sweet peas, roses and poppies, he went to his bedroom and grabbed the money the tooth fairy had left him under his pillow. He ran straight to his parents.
“Mama, papa, I think I saved enough and I would like to go and buy something that’s missing from my garden!”
“What is it, my love?” asked his parents.
“A lemon tree,” He exclaimed. “I want us to make lemonade and lemon marmalade, just like babushka used to make.”
“That’s a wonderful idea,” said his parents and they hugged him tightly.
The next day the whole family went to the garden store and bought the most beautiful lemon tree and Yaya and his papa dug a big hole in the garden in just the right spot and planted it. Yaya had never felt so happy and so excited before. Finally, his garden was perfect and complete… for now.
Learn about Trees
with your little ones
Jayne, mum of Nancy Oliver (6)
The Lonely Tree
Once upon a time there was a tree that lived in a big forest.
The tree was very, very tall and her leaves spread far and wide.
She lived on a little hill in a clearing next to a stream and there were no other trees nearby.
The tree was lonely.
The tree tried to talk to the fish in the stream but they just swam past.
The tree tried to talk to the otters playing in the water but they were too busy splashing around.
The tree tried to talk to the frogs but they just croaked and hopped off.
The tree tried to talk to the beavers but they were too busy building their homes.
Then one day a bird flew by.
It was heading deeper into the forest not noticing the large lonely tree in the clearing.
The tree watched as the bird flew from branch to branch on lots of different trees. She thought it was funny.
Suddenly the bird landed on one of the tallest branches of the tree!
The tree said “Hello”
The bird said “Hello”
The bird said it was looking for a home to build a nest and thought that she was perfect.
The bird asked if she could stay. The tree excitedly said “yes!”
The tree and the bird became good friends and the tree was never lonely again.
The end.
Alba the Tree-mendous Oak
Alba was an extremely old oak tree, he had stood in the same spot for almost a hundred years, each year growing taller and wider, he wondered if one day he would grow so high that he would eventually reach the fluffy white clouds that floated by.
Whilst Alba was a truly magnificent tree, he was also a very lonely tree, over the years all of the other trees in his wood (his family) had been chopped down and taken away to make shiny new furniture, fences for farmers’ fields, toys for small boys and girls to play with, paper for writing on and even for firewood, so he stood alone, rooted to the same grassy green spot, at the top of Farmer Mason’s field growing sadder and lonelier by the day.
It was a gloriously hot day at the start of May, Alba could feel the blazing hot rays of the sun warming his rounded leaves and making the short green stalks tingle, it felt like magic was in the air, the feeling transported him back to a wonderful time, when he and his family had provided shade for all the people that worked on the farm and for the cows and sheep that grazed beneath them too, the trees would watch on as the farm workers had picnic lunches underneath their shady leaves, whilst their children, played hide and seek and climbed their study leafy branches. Oh how he missed those times, he longed to feel useful again, so desperately did he want those times back, that he made a wish but assuming there was no chance of it coming true, he began to sob, large teardrops started to fall.
Suddenly, a swarm of honey bees began to circle around his trunk; they flew so fast that their tiny yellow grains of pollen began filling the air, what Alba didn’t know was this was no ordinary pollen it was a special glittery kind of magic pollen.
Then to Alba’s amazement he heard a tiny voice buzz “Your very lucky, today is wish granting day!”
Startled Alba sniffed “Who said that?”
Marie and Lyla Collins (9)
Then to Alba’s amazement he heard a tiny voice buzz “Your very lucky, today is wish granting day!”
Startled Alba sniffed “Who said that?”
“It was me, I’m Henrik the honey bee, my hive is nestled in the hollow of your trunk, my friends and I heard your wish and thought you deserved for it to be granted, so we sprinkled you in magic pollen, that’s the reason you can hear me!”
“Wow, I thought I’d imagined you were talking to me!” replied Alba.
“No, it was definitely me, my friends and I thought you could do with cheering up by hearing just how needed you are. Like you, I have an extremely important job, my job is to pollenate all the crops and trees, hence why I’m always so busy……….must go!” and just like that Henrik was gone.
Alba was feeling dazed, convinced he’d just dreamt the conversation with Henrik when he heard a quiet voice cheep, “Excuse me Mr Oak, are you alright?”
Alba’s eyes shot up and he saw a small bluebird timidly hop off her tiny nest, that was hidden amongst his ancient branches ,”I couldn’t help but notice the big teardrop that fell next to my nest, I wanted to check you are alright? My name’s Bella Bluebird.”
“Hello, pleased to meet you Bella, I’m Alba, to my friends - not that I have many anymore!” replied Alba sadly. He went on to explain why he was feeling so lonely and that he wasn’t useful anymore.
“NOT Useful – why you’re one of the most useful things in this whole field, NO! Make that the whole world!” tweeted Bella, Alba’s face brightened “That’s awfully kind but you couldn’t possibly be talking about me!”
“Of course, I am Alba – you’ve given me a safe place to make my nest and wait for my chicks to hatch, so I am truly thankful to you. I’m going to be sitting on my nest for a while so I hope we can be friends?”
“Me too!” Alba beamed.
Just then a beautiful purple streaked butterfly fluttered passed. “Oh, Mr Oak please don’t be sad, do you not realise that your juicy leaves fed me and all my caterpillar friends during the spring enabling us to turn into the beautiful butterflies we are today? Thank you so much. I’d like to be your friend too – my name is Phillippa!”
“Hi Phillippa, that’s fabulous to hear and yes I’d love that too” replied Alba with a grin growing on his face.
Then, yet another voice squeaked “I’d love to be your friend as well!” a glossy ruby red squirrel, popped his head out of Alba’s trunk. “Hello, I’m Spencer Squirrel, my family and I have lived inside your truck for many generations, you have not only provided us with a cosy, comfy home but also with enough food to last us over the winter - plus your acorns are the yummiest for miles, so on behalf of my family, I’d like to thank you too!”
“That’s so kind Spencer, I’m only too pleased to be able to help! Alba couldn’t believe his luck, he’d made four new friends in one day!
Just then Farmer Mason drove passed on his tractor, suddenly it spluttered, then made a loud banging noise and it came to an abrupt halt at the edge of Alba’s field! “Oh no, not again”, he sighed, he was so very busy, he hadn’t had a day off in months. Alba and his friends watched as Farmer Mason spent the next hour with various tools trying to get the tractor to fire back into action, with no luck. He was hot, tired and thirsty, so he grabbed his lunch, that Mrs Mason had prepared and sunk down against Alba’s huge trunk, as he did, he said to himself “Ah Hello old friend, it’s been a long time since I’ve sat here” and to Farmer Mason’s surprise, came the reply “Hello Silas, it has and how I’ve missed you!”
Farmer Mason or Silas as he was known as a boy, jumped in surprise, almost dropping his delicious cheese salad sandwich that he’d began to unwrap. He was convinced he had sunstroke or that he was dreaming but muttered “Did you just speak to me?”
“I did indeed, it’s been a long time Silas but I’ve loved watching you grow up into a man and take over the farm from your father, please don’t look so worried, I felt the same as you little while ago, here are my new friends Bella, Phillippa and Spencer and in that hive up there, lives Henrik – he’s a magic honey bee but he’s awfully busy at the moment.”
After his initial shock, Farmer Mason chatted to Alba and his friends about his fond memories as a child and he looked back on them as some of the happiest and most carefree days of his life. Alba also told him why he had been feeling so very sad as he didn’t have a purpose anymore and that he missed his family of trees.
“My dear old friend, if it wasn’t for trees, humans would struggle to exist!” exclaimed Farmer Mason.
“What do you mean?” enquired Alba.
“The oxygen you produce helps us to breathe - you must have heard of photosynthesis!”
“Photo Silje who? exclaimed Alba
“Ha Ha! No photo-syn-the-sis! It’s the process of how your food is made but also how your leaves (and other trees and plants) through Photosynthesis convert the carbon dioxide I breathe out into fresh oxygen for me and other humans to breathe in, so basically your leaves act like a giant filter removing all the unhealthy air and turning it into the clean air we need! Explained Farmer Mason
“WOW! Thank you, I REALLY do have an important job, don’t I?”
“Yes, you do! Now I must get back to the farm, as Mrs Mason will be wondering where I am but it’s lovely to have chatted to you and I promise I will visit again very soon!”
Spencer scurried after Farmer Mason and spoke in a whisper, “Farmer Mason, I have an idea, would you be able to help me?”
Farmer Mason listened to Spencer explain, how his family had collected far too many acorns last winter and rather than them go to waste, perhaps he’d be able to help Spencer to plant them, so Alba could eventually have a new family of trees to keep him company, Farmer Mason agreed this was a fantastic idea.
Farmer Mason kept his promise and the following Sunday morning, together with Mrs Mason and their four children, Lucca, Nelly, Fressia and Sean, met up with Spencer. Spencer had already gathered up all the spare acorns into a huge pile. Lucca and Nelly dug holes, while their parents, filled them first with manure from the farm and then with the acorns, Spencer helped to cover them over, whilst Fressia and Sean chased Phillippa and her other butterfly friends around Alba’s field. Bella had collected lots of fallen twigs in her beak and Nelly had tied them with scraps of material that were left over from making their clothing. Finally, all four children placed the colourful twigs on top of where each seed had been planted to mark each spot.
When it was time to leave, the children hugged Alba so tightly, he thought his roots would burst, it wasn’t just Alba who had had an amazing day, the Mason family also agreed how marvellous it was to spend time together outside. The Mason’s decided, from now on, every Sunday, they would take an hour or so off from doing their chores and leave their hectic busy lives behind to visit Alba and his friends, so the children could play and have fun in the fresh air.
Over the next few weeks, the family took it in turns, to water the acorns and to keep Alba company. Gradually little green shoots began to poke their heads through the dark crumbly earth and soon it was time for Bella’s chicks to hatch, the children watched excitedly as one by one the eggs cracked open to reveal the tiny but very noisy baby bluebirds, Alba beamed with pride, his spirits really had lifted and he had turned from a very sad lonely tree, to an extremely jolly oak tree. Lucca had helped his father hang some rope over Alba’s largest branch and attach a strong piece of wood for the children to swing from – the squeals of excitement made even the very tips of Alba’s highest branches feel all warm and fuzzy!
As the years passed by, the older he grew, the happier he felt, he watched the children grow up into adults and parents themselves and in turn their children become parents and their children’s children too. Each year on the second Sunday in May, Alba’s woodland friends (the bluebirds and squirrels) and the Mason family – which was rather large now, would gather together and repeat the tradition of planting the squirrels surplus acorns in Alba’s field - whilst purple streaked butterflies fluttered in the blue skies above and busy honey bees darted around in the air, I say field but what I actually mean is Alba’s wood, as over the years the acorns had grown into tremendous leafy oak trees creating the family he had longed for and surrounding Alba with more love and comfort than he knew what to do with. After the acorns had been planted each year, the family would lay their picnic cloths under the trees and enjoy lots of tasty treats, amongst their favourites were honey sandwiches. A few years after Alba had first met Henrik, the Mason’s had begun harvesting the excess honey from the hives (with the bees permission – of course) people came from miles away to buy ‘Henrik’s Honey’, always adding that they’d never tasted anything so divine, it had an added extra that no other honey they’d eaten contained, everyone also mentioned once eaten the honey made them feel instantly happy! Alba and his friends of course knew exactly why this was but to this very day the magic pollen is still a Mason family secret and it will remain that way forever (providing you don’t tell!)
It had been a very busy Sunday, Farmer Mason’s great, great grandchildren had gone home and as the sun began to set Alba thought back to the day when he made his wish and the kindness and courage of those tiny little creatures changed not only his life but the lives of the Mason’s too.
So next time you climb a tree or your family venture into a forest or go searching for bluebells in the woods, be sure to look up and say THANK YOU to all the lovely majestic trees who look after us so well and if you listen carefully, REALLY carefully you might just hear a whisper carried back on the wind.
THE END