Dinosaur bedtime story: Pip and the stars

Ages 3 to 7 · 4 min read aloud

Pip, the Floating Dinosaur

Long, long ago, in a warm forest full of ferns, lived a little dinosaur called Pip. Pip was green with yellow spots, and he had a long neck and short, sturdy legs.

Pip had a special gift. When he took a very deep breath and jumped, he went higher than any other dinosaur. So high that he floated for a moment, like a leaf on the breeze. Then he always drifted gently back down. That was Pip’s superpower.

One evening, as the sun turned orange, Pip heard a tiny sound. "Cheep! Cheep!" Under a tall tree, a little bird sat in the grass. It had tumbled out of its nest and couldn’t fly yet.

"I’ll take you home," said Pip. He lifted the little bird carefully onto his nose. Then he breathed in deeply, deeper still, and jumped. He floated slowly upwards, past the branches, right up to the nest. The little bird hopped in beside its brothers and sisters. "Cheep," it said once more, very content.

Pip drifted softly back into the ferns. There stood Grandma Stegosaurus, looking up at a tree full of purple fruit. "The ones at the top are the sweetest," she said. "But I can’t reach them."

Pip jumped and floated and picked the finest fruit of all. He gave it to Grandma. She ate it slowly and closed her eyes. "Delicious," she said. "Thank you, little Pip."

Down by the river sat two little dinosaurs. They couldn’t get to sleep. "We want to see the stars," they said. "But the trees are in the way."

Pip smiled. "Look up along with me." He jumped as high as he could and hung for a moment above the treetops. There they were: a thousand tiny stars, twinkling in the dark sky. "I’ll count them for you," Pip called softly. "One, two, three..." Down below, the little dinosaurs yawned. By ten they were asleep.

Slowly Pip drifted down. The forest was quiet now. The crickets chirped softly. A breeze rocked the ferns, to and fro.

Pip was tired from all that jumping. He walked to his own special spot, a soft bed of ferns beneath a big tree. He patted it flat, one little step at a time.

Then he lay down. He rested his long neck on his front legs and curled his tail around himself. He looked one last time at the stars between the leaves.

The little bird slept in its nest. Grandma slept under her tree. The little dinosaurs slept by the river. And Pip breathed slowly in and out, in and out, until he was asleep as well. Goodnight, Pip. Goodnight, little dinosaur, snug in your own bed.