Bedtime stories for ages 7 to 10
Older kids want a story with a real puzzle in it. These run about 350 to 800 words, with riddles to solve, towns with secrets and characters who have to make hard choices.
They still have a picture on every page, and they are short enough for one bedtime. They also work well for a confident reader to read alone, or to read aloud to a younger sibling.
16 free illustrated stories, each with a read-aloud button and questions to talk about after.
Kaelan's Peculiar Paths
Kaelan finds every decision hard, until glowing doors start showing him what each choice would bring. Then there are far too many doors.
Ages 8 to 10 6 min read
The Annual Query
In Oakhaven everyone gets one question answered truthfully each year. Chloe asks about her lost ribbon, and Leo saves his question for something bigger.
Ages 8 to 10 6 min read
The Echoing Shell's Secret
On Aethel Island every object remembers who held it, except one giant shell. Tessa and Diego follow the island's whispers to wake it up.
Ages 8 to 10 9 min read
The Experience Orb Library
The library at the edge of town lends out experiences instead of books, and Kaelen borrows a jungle expedition with a riddle at the river.
Ages 8 to 10 7 min read
The Flight of the Forest Map
Arthur the fox follows an old map until a rushing river stops him, and a great horned owl offers to carry him the rest of the way.
Ages 8 to 10 8 min read
The Harbor of Lost Echoes
Some ships in Elias's harbor carry cargo from places that no longer exist, and Captain Silas has brought back a puzzle box from one of them.
Ages 8 to 10 7 min read
The Harmony Hub's Secret
Everything in Harmonia is perfectly in place, until Kaelo asks why and follows a tidy little robot to the top of the clock tower.
Ages 8 to 10 7 min read
The Listening Friend
Clara, Samira and Benny set out to find a missing locket. Everyone brushes off Benny's strange clues, but he is the only one really listening.
Ages 8 to 10 7 min read
The Market of Common Ground
A secret market appears in an alley when two strangers need the same thing, and Sophie and John both need the very last copper gear.
Ages 8 to 10 8 min read
The Memory Keeper's Choice
Elara decides which memories the town of Oakhaven keeps, and a boy's question makes her look again at a hard day she chose to hide.
Ages 8 to 10 7 min read
The Mountain's Softest Song
The Sleeping Mountain sleeps too deeply, and Joel and Gus the badger search for the one sound that can wake it. It is not the loudest one.
Ages 7 to 8 5 min read
The Strolling Street of Cobbles
The shortcut home takes Jordan and Isaac a different amount of time every day, so they time it, take notes and crack the secret.
Ages 8 to 10 8 min read
The Whimsical Weather Machine
Sam finds an old brass weather machine in Grandma Martha's attic. One turn of the dial brings fog, the next brings snow in July.
Ages 8 to 10 6 min read
The Whispering Star Rescue
Kira and Dax's favorite bedtime story is fading from memory, and the last copy is hidden somewhere in a giant library behind a riddle.
Ages 7 to 8 5 min read
The World-Heart Oak
Leo finds a glowing sphere in the hollow of the park's oldest oak, and it shows him the tree is older than the planet itself.
Ages 8 to 10 6 min read
Whispers of the Ever-Changing Hall
In the Hall of Shifting Sights, Kael and Zola look at the same exhibits and see completely different things, and they need both views to solve the museum's puzzle.
Ages 8 to 10 7 min read
Questions parents ask
- How long are the stories for older kids?
- About 350 to 800 words over ten illustrated pages. Most take five to nine minutes to read aloud.
- Can my 8 year old read these independently?
- Yes, most confident 8 to 10 year old readers can. The vocabulary is richer than in the younger stories, with words like peculiar and ancient, but nothing a strong reader will stumble on often.
Want one about your child's own idea?
Every story in this library started as one sentence said out loud. In the Storybox app your child says the idea, and a new illustrated story comes back in about a minute.
Get Storybox for iPhone and iPad