Bedtime stories for 5-year-olds
› Add their age and what they love
Age
Loves
Optional
Who else is in it?
Optional
Length
2–120 min
4 spreads, written as you read
Mood
gentle third-person narration, a timeless setting, a small kindness at its heart. Unhurried and warm, like a story that has been told for years.
Pictures
Drawn as you reach each one, in the cover's style.
Anything else for this one?
Optional
Free to start. Just a first name, no card. Or read one first
Made on Nightstory
Real stories, written and drawn the way yours will be. The child's name has been changed in each.
The Fairy Who Lost Her Glitter
When Arlo follows a trail of tiny lights into the garden, she meets a fairy whose wing-glitter has gone missing, and together they wait for the fireflies to return one by one. A soft, drifting bedtime story about small wonders and quiet patience.
Read it →
The Mermaid's Comb and the Parrot's Path
Suki sets sail on a quiet pirate adventure to return a lost comb to a mermaid, following the directions of a helpful parrot. It's a gentle, cozy journey with small discoveries and a safe return home.
Read it →
The Sound in the Garden Shed at Dusk
When a soft thumping drifts from the garden shed at dusk, Wren takes her sketchbook and follows the clues — a knocked-over paint pot, a trail of leaf prints, and a very polite stegosaurus who only wants a quiet place to draw. A gentle, cozy mystery that ends with everyone tucked in.
Read it →
Five-year-olds want stories that remember. They notice when a character returns and they mind when one does not. They can follow a story across a few nights and they have opinions about what should happen. Bedtime reading at this age is the start of a shared world.
That is what ours are built for. Each story is written for your five-year-old by name, and tomorrow's chapter remembers tonight's: the same friends, the same places, the next thing that happens. Say what they love and it is in there.
Written by the people who make Nightstory.
What makes it work at bedtime
Let a character stay
When a story introduces someone your child likes, keep them. Add them to the cast and they will be there tomorrow, which is the thing a five-year-old most wants from a story.
Try a longer one on a weekend
Five is old enough for a medium-length story that takes eight minutes. Save those for nights with no school and keep weeknights short.
Let them decide the next chapter
Ask what should happen tomorrow and put it in the request. A child who chose the plot is a child who is listening.
Questions parents ask
- How long should a bedtime story be for a 5-year-old?
- Five to eight minutes read aloud, or longer as a treat. You choose the length on every story, from a quick three minutes to an epic that lasts the week.
- Can my five-year-old read it themselves?
- It is written to be read aloud, in plain words, so an early reader can manage a page or two with you beside them. Many families trade pages. The read-aloud narration is there for the nights you are too tired to.
- What does it cost?
- The first page is free, with no account. A free account finishes that story and brings one more free story. After that, a story costs 20 stars, and Nightstory Plus brings 840 stars a month, enough for a story every night.
Make tonight's for your child
Their name is all it takes. The first page is free, with no account.
Create tonight's story