The Longest Day | Summer Solstice Bedtime Tale For Kids

In tonight’s folklore-inspired bedtime story for kids, it is the longest day of the year: the Summer Solstice. You soak up the sunshine with your friends and family, enjoying the gifts of summer, before staying up late to watch the sunset. Soon, the fireflies come out, along with some magical surprises. This bedtime story is especially designed for children but can be enjoyed by listeners of all ages.

Music: Ursa Major by Deep Inside, Via Epidemic Sound

Transcript

Celebrate the summer solstice with friends,

Loved ones,

And even some fairies in tonight's folklore-inspired bedtime story.

Sleep and Sorcery presents Arthur's Corner,

Magical bedtime stories for young people.

Inspired by fantasy,

Fairy tales,

And folklore,

And using guided visualization,

This bedtime story is especially designed for children but can be enjoyed by listeners of all ages.

You can find more bedtime stories for any age at Sleep and Sorcery.

This story is called The Longest Day.

In tonight's folklore-inspired bedtime story,

It is the longest day of the year,

The summer solstice.

You soak up the sunshine with your friends and family,

Enjoying the gifts of summer,

Before staying up late to watch the sunset.

Soon,

The fireflies come out,

Along with some magical surprises.

Before the story begins,

Take a moment to settle in and get cozy.

You might start this track while you're getting into your PJs,

Or brushing your teeth,

Or as you're getting tucked into bed.

As you get to the end of your nighttime routine,

Go ahead and snuggle up under the covers.

Let your eyes close whenever you're ready.

This is a story to help you fall asleep.

All you have to do is listen to my voice,

And feel free to let yourself fall asleep before the story is over.

You can always come back and finish it another time.

Let's take a couple of deep breaths together to help you relax and tune in to the world of the story.

Breathe all the way into your belly,

So that if you put a hand on your belly,

You would feel it rise and fall like a balloon as you breathe.

Breathe in,

And out.

And in,

And out.

With your eyes closed,

Relax your body and begin to use your imagination.

Imagine that you are part of the story I'm about to tell.

Use your imagination to see pictures in your mind,

Like the many colors of a sunset.

To hear the sounds of the story,

Like crickets chirping as night falls.

To feel the sensation in the story,

Like dipping your toes into cool water to escape the summer heat.

To smell the smells of the story,

Like the sweet smell of honeysuckle vine.

To taste the flavors of the story,

Like melting popsicles.

Come along with me to a joyful,

Sunlit corner of the world,

Known as Linden Circle,

Where wonder and friendship abound.

Are you ready to enjoy the most magical day of summer?

Sweet,

Golden sunshine pours in through your window,

Making your bedroom sparkle.

You wipe the sleep from your eyes,

Shimmying off the cozy warmth of pleasant dreams.

Outside your window,

You can hear sparrows and morning doves sing in beautiful harmony,

As if they are gently calling to you.

Come outside,

It's a beautiful day.

It's the longest day.

A hearty breakfast is waiting for you,

Your favorite.

Is it pancakes,

Cereal,

Or French toast?

By the time you're finished,

You can already hear peals of laughter outside.

School is out for summer vacation,

And the outdoors are summoning you.

There's nothing to do all day,

But play and explore,

And enjoy the many gifts of the season.

Stepping outside into the morning sunshine is like entering a world of enchantment.

You are suddenly surrounded by birdsong and fresh,

Mild air.

The honeysuckle vine,

Which has overtaken the fence around your backyard,

Emits the sweetest,

Most welcoming aroma.

At the bird feeder,

A bright red cardinal chirps,

Dipping his head to eat up the sunflower and millet seeds set out for him.

The cardinal looks right at you and seems to smile,

As if to say,

Oh,

There you are.

We've been waiting for you.

On Linden Circle,

The charming cul-de-sac where you live,

You have friends in almost every house.

To your sheer joy,

Many of them are already outside playing.

Someone has drawn a hopscotch court on the sidewalk with yellow and pink and green chalk.

Your next-door neighbor and best friend is merrily hopping down the court,

One foot,

Two feet,

Giggling as they go.

Others are riding their bikes and scooters up and down the street,

While parents look on to keep everyone safe.

On Spotting You,

Your friends shout your name with excitement,

Some leaving bikes and toys behind to run straight over and greet you with hugs and high-fives.

You've always felt that summer on Linden Circle is nothing short of magic,

But there's something else in the air today,

Something special.

It's late June,

And every day the sun has stayed out just a little longer,

Shined just a bit brighter.

Today is,

In fact,

The longest day of the year,

Also called the Summer Solstice.

On this day,

Your whole world is bright from the earliest inkling of morning to long past bedtime.

For ages untold,

People have honored this day with midsummer festivals,

Bonfires,

And games,

Relishing the wondrous gifts of the sun.

After tonight,

The days will get shorter again,

The sun setting earlier and earlier as the earth turns toward autumn and winter.

But for now,

Here in this magical midsummer moment,

Everything turns to gold under the glorious sunshine.

It isn't long before the breezy mildness of morning gives way to high afternoon heat,

And soon the familiar tinkling melody of jingle and chimes comes floating in on a welcome breeze.

The music is met with shrieks of joy and laughter,

For the sound of it can mean only one thing,

The ice cream truck.

Mere moments later,

You and your friends are devouring popsicles and soft-serve cones before they melt in the summer sun.

You lick your fingers to enjoy every last bit.

The treats give everyone an extra burst of energy,

Which you spend joyously in a game of freeze tag.

Though soon you grow bored with the rules of the game,

Settling for running as fast as you can until your legs tire.

Giggling,

You and your best friend fall on your backs in the backyard.

You notice the tender,

Tickly feeling of the grass on the backs of your legs.

You rest for a little while in the shade of a linden tree,

The tree for which your street is named,

And its heart-shaped leaves and delicate flowers send forth the most honey-sweet,

Relaxing fragrance.

For a moment,

You let yourself just be,

Enjoying the gentle breeze.

You feel cradled and utterly secure with the earth beneath you.

You feel the way your heels rest against the ground,

Your legs,

Your hips,

Your back,

Shoulders,

Arms,

Neck,

And head.

Every part of you safe,

Supported by the soft grass and the embrace of the earth.

You point to the skies and the shapes of the clouds,

Elephants,

Unicorns,

Flying motorcycles.

You pluck bright yellow dandelions,

Like little blossoms of sunshine in the palm of your hand,

And group them into a bright bouquet,

Which you present to someone you love.

You find another dandelion that's already gone to seed,

With a puffball of fluffy white wisps atop its stem.

You hold it tightly in your hands,

Close your eyes,

Take a deep breath,

And make a wish.

Then,

Opening your eyes,

You blow the wispy dandelion seeds,

Which scatter and catch currents of breeze,

Traveling in all directions,

Climbing invisible ladders into the sky.

You have a feeling your wish is going to come true.

And soon,

Your strength restored from a moment of rest,

You're back on your feet for a block-wide game of baseball.

With the sun blazing high in the sky,

It truly feels as if this beautiful day might never end.

It is rich with the sound of birdsong and laughter,

The smell of flowers and fruit hanging heavy on the trees.

It's like the whole world is standing still for you,

Your friends,

And your family,

Holding the magic of friendship and nature in a glowing frame of sunshine.

A day of endless play,

Endless enjoyment.

After baseball,

Someone brings out water balloons.

Your family fills up a kiddie pool with cold water for wading and dipping of toes,

Perfect for cooling off in the growing heat.

Neighbors strike up their grills,

Making hot dogs and vegetable skewers,

Filling the air of Lyndon Circle with an enticing smoky scent.

Your tummy rumbles.

You're getting hungry.

It's hard to believe it's almost dinner time.

The sun is still shining just as bright as it was this morning.

But instead of going inside to eat,

Every family splitting off to their separate homes,

Someone brings out tables and chairs,

Setting them out in the middle of the cul-de-sac.

From every house,

People come with platters full of food to share.

Fresh-cut watermelon,

Homemade cornbread,

A steaming tray of macaroni and cheese.

There is something for everyone at the feast,

And every bite tastes like summer to you.

With a full belly,

You feel your body relax and a sleepy smile creeps across your face.

On any other day,

It would soon be time to get ready for bed.

But tonight,

You get to stay up late to watch the sun set on the longest day.

You think about a book you once read,

Or had read to you about the summer solstice.

Though some people believe that on this day,

The longest of the year,

Two magical kings,

One a king of holly and the other a king of oak,

Would battle for control of the earth.

Every summer,

The holly king,

Who rules over winter,

Would defeat the oak king and usher in the darker,

Colder months of the year.

Then,

At midwinter,

The shortest day,

They would meet once again,

And the oak king would be reborn,

Bringing back the sunshine and the flowers.

It's a nice story,

You think,

But as peace settles over Linden Circle and neighbors break bread,

You find it hard to imagine that this day has anything to do with battle or fighting.

This is a day of play,

Of flowers unfurling,

Of abundance and life.

After dinner,

You pick up your just-the-right-size watering can and help water the flowers in your family's garden.

Every day,

It seems like a dozen new flowers bloom,

From the dainty pink primroses to the deep purple hollyhocks,

Blooming on stalks two times as tall as you.

A fuzzy yellow bumblebee is snoozing,

Nestled in the cup of a foxglove flower.

Tiny white butterflies dance from bloom to bloom.

In the cracks between the concrete steps up to your house,

Multicolored flowers,

Snapdragons,

Have sprung up where no one even planted them.

The seeds must have found their own way there,

Growing wild.

You stifle a yawn as the sun at last begins its descent.

Somehow,

The later the hour gets,

The sweeter the sunshine seems,

As if you are allowed to glimpse a magical secret.

Neighbors are setting up fire pits in their driveways,

And folks gather together to relax and soak up the sun's final rays.

Somehow,

Just like the sun,

You've found one last burst of energy,

And you take to the slides and the swing sets with your friends,

Seeing who can swing the highest.

The sky takes on a vibrant shade of tangerine,

Which fades across your vision to purple-pink and midnight blue.

The undersides of the fluffy clouds are a pearly periwinkle.

It's the most beautiful sunset you can remember seeing,

And part of you wishes you could freeze time at this very moment when all of Linden Circle is bathed in vivid splashes of colorful twilight.

But the next moment,

Even more beauty enters the scene.

A firefly floating over the grass blinks its light in your direction.

And then,

Another little blink,

And another,

Each blinking on and off across Linden Circle like they're talking to each other in a secret language of light.

They seem to rise from nowhere,

Lending a tender,

Uplifting glow to the neighborhood.

The littlest children still awake are trying to catch fireflies in their chubby little hands.

You jump in to help,

Bringing an empty jar rummaged from the garden shed.

It takes a few tries,

But you manage to catch a firefly in the jar.

You sit with a couple of friends not far from your family's fire,

Admiring the little glowing wonder,

Blinking their light on and off.

In the jar,

In your hands,

You bring the jar close to your face and squint,

Trying to get a good look at the tiny lightning bug to understand what makes them glow.

But what you see makes you gasp in surprise and delight.

What can this be?

Instead of an insect,

The jar contains a tiny,

Little person,

No bigger than your pinky nail,

With tiny,

Iridescent wings that intervals their whole body lights up from within,

Then blinks out into afterglow.

The creature flits about the jar,

And you notice a fine,

Shimmering powder that falls from their wings and shoulders,

Landing in a little heap at the bottom.

Fairy dust.

This is no firefly.

But a fairy.

You and your friends ooh and aah in wonder at the beautiful little fairy,

Then turn your eyes to all the blinking lights on Lyndon Circle.

A whole tizzy of fairies,

Not fireflies,

Lending their light and beauty to your corner of the world on this,

The longest day.

It doesn't seem right,

You think,

To keep a fairy in a jar,

Or a firefly,

For that matter.

So you open the lid and let the little winged creature fly free.

They should be able to enjoy the last drops of sunshine with their friends,

Just like you are.

Before they fly away,

However,

The tiny fairy hovers before you as if to say,

Thank you,

And sprinkles a bit of fairy dust over your head.

Then they float off,

Spinning on the breeze and shining brighter than before.

You go to sit by your family's fire pit and tell the grown-ups about what you've just seen,

That all the blinking lights on Lyndon Circle are not fireflies,

But magical sprites.

They humor you and smile,

But you're not sure they believe you.

Maybe it's something only the young and the young at heart can see.

You feel lucky to be among those who have.

Purple dusk is falling now,

And you surrender to a great yawn.

You've stayed up long past bedtime,

And the last shining threads of sunset are beginning to tremble and vanish behind the row of houses to the west.

Your whole neighborhood shimmers,

The rooftops picking up the last remnants of the sun's golden gleam.

The longest day,

Which felt for a while like it might never end,

Has come to a close.

Bidding a sleepy farewell to your friends,

Promising to come out all the earlier tomorrow for another game of baseball or bubble blowing or freeze tag,

You make your way inside to get ready for bed.

All through your nighttime bubble bath,

Getting into your cozy PJs and enjoying a snuggle and a story,

You think about all the wonderful things that happened today on Linden Circle.

A day of play and hot sunshine and cold water and dandelion seeds on the wind.

A day of meals shared between neighbors,

Of peaceful moments underneath the linden tree with good friends.

A day that smells like honeysuckle and campfire.

The story you read with your loved ones is called A Midsummer Night's Dream,

And it's all about the fairies who come out after the sun goes down on the longest day.

All tucked into bed,

You settle in for the night.

But you can't resist going to the window for one last look out at Linden Circle.

The window is cracked slightly to allow a cool,

Fragrant night breeze into your bedroom.

The moon is out.

You can hear the crescendo of crickets down below and the crackling of the fire pits that still smolder in driveways.

And,

To your soft,

Sleepy delight,

You can still see fireflies blinking.

No,

Not fireflies.

Fairies here to claim this midsummer night for their own magic purposes.

Crawling back under your covers,

You feel the pleasant exhaustion of the day sink into your body,

And you relax deeply,

Rubbing your eyes.

There,

On your hands,

Are tiny,

Little sparkles,

The fairy dust.

There's some on your pillow as well,

Glittering in the moonlight.

You lay your head down and wonder what magic the fairy dust holds.

But in only moments,

Your eyelids droop and you slip into a sweet,

Peaceful sleep.

And the fairy dust,

Well,

It winds its way into your dreams,

Making beautiful pictures that dance in your mind throughout the night.

Lyndon Circle sleeps,

Just as you do,

On this magic night.

Dancing and dreaming with the moon and the sun.

Good night.

Reviews

❤️

I love sleep and sorcery meditations. Please don't stop making them. 🙏🏼

Great sleep story

Hi Laurel, this is a very sweet tale for the young one's & the young@♥ to enjoy most thoroughly. Thank you. Léna ☺💕🐱🐱🐨🇦🇺

Amazing as awaya.

Thank you for taking me back to my childhood.❤️❤️❤️