I do not recall any of the bed time stories told me when I was a kid. Till my sister’s daughter was born I did not even think that there could be story books for the kids. In 1982 when I joined for CA Articleship I went to a book publishing house for audit and that was the first time I saw so many story books meant for children. I used to buy those story books for my niece Kavita. She used to enjoy looking at the pictures in the story books and my sister used to read the stories for her.

In 1990 when my twin sons were born I again started buying the story books. As small little boys they used to enjoy the stories and the way I read the stories from the book. I used to add my own masala at times. I still remember some of the stories like Pinnochio; Little Red Riding hood; Jack and the Beanstalk; Chip and Dale; Cindrella; Snow White and 7 Dwarfs; Dark Wing Duck And Clean Money; etc. I used to read the stories with a little music added to it. Even the title of the story will be told by me in a musical tone. I used to read “Dark wing Duck and Clean Money” and follow it up with “Ting Tung Ting Tung Ting ting Ting”.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the story books for my little kids and I was myself reading them for the first time in my life. I used to also tell my own stories of animals, aliens, cartoon characters like Micky, Donald, Goofy etc. One day my elder son prompted me to tell a new story and he also put a condition saying it should not have any animals or cartoon characters. I immediately started the story of “Three Friends” and my kids were immediately asking me what their names. As I am faced with a tough choice of not using
animals and cartoon character I thought for a second and said “Chocolate, Biscuit and Ice Cream”. They were both excited and started clapping their hands.

I narrated the story:

Chocolate, Biscuit and Ice Cream are very good friends and they always enjoyed playing games and used to spend their time always together. One day it was raining heavily and Biscuit wanted to go and play in the rain. His mother told him it is risky to play in the rain and he might get fully drenched in rain water and loose his identity. Biscuit did not listen to his mother and still went ahead to play in the rain. Very soon Biscuit got drenched in the rain and started to loose his identity. Chocolate and Ice Cream quickly gathered Biscuit and put him in a Microwave Oven. Biscuit regained his original shape and identity. The three friends stayed indoors and enjoyed their day.

Another day it was very sunny and hot and Ice Cream wanted to go and play in the Sun. His mother told him that if he goes out and plays in the sun he will melt. Ice Cream did not listen to his mother and went ahead to play in the hot sun. When he was about to melt his friends Chocolate and Biscuit quickly brought him back to the house and kept him in the Freezer section of the Fridge. Ice Cream regained his original shape and
identity.

Chocolate told his friends that they both have faced problems only because they did not listen to the advice of the elders. The “Three Friends” decided that they will always listen to their elders.

Moral of the Story: You must listen to what you parents tell you.

My kids enjoyed this story so much that they used to ask me tell this story every night. I thoroughly enjoyed telling Bed Time Stories to my children until they were able to start reading on their own. I still fondly remember the nights when I used to read the story from the books and also tell my own story. I had a tough time making them to sleep as they used to keep asking for more stories from me. Every kid will enjoy Bed Time
Stories and every parent would be thrilled to tell the Bed Time Stores to their child.

At the end of every story I used to tell them “Moral of the Story”. When I repeat the story the next time I used to ask them what is the “Moral of the Story”. I always used to ask them “did you like the story” and they will say in chorus “yes”. The next day or within few days if they ask me to repeat a story then I know they like it very much.

Some stories when I try to repeat on my own they would say no and then I used to get the message that they don’t like that story. My objective was to instill good moral values in them and hence I always used to tell them stories which had a good moral value. I never used to tell any scary stories or horror stories as I was myself scared of such things.

Bed Time Stories are relished and enjoyed by the kids but the moral value that goes with it should get deeply etched in their minds. When that happens then the kids will grow up with such good moral values. I feel “Bed Time Stories” are of “Life Time Value”.

T.P.Anand, Dubai, U.A.E.
24th June 2010

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