: Re: Where can I find resources for bedtime story plots? For past ten months, my wife and I have been telling bedtime stories of our own making to our older daughter (who recently turned 4). We

@Bethany377

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Apparently what my grandfather used to do, telling a story to children, was to ask them -- what do you want in the story?

And apparently they'd reply things like:

A spider
A palace
Toffee-paper

And he'd make up a story with those elements:

A new (semi-random) story, because it's based on a new input (seed) from the child[ren]
Extra-entertaining for the audience, because you'd wait to see when and how your story-element, which you suggested, would come into the story

Also, the next morning he'd ask the children to repeat back the story as they heard it and remember it -- and he'd write that down. It's said that he reckoned that they'd remember only the most interesting bits, forgetting the rest overnight, so it was their version of it that was worth recording.

I'd also agree with Chris Sunami's answer: "collections of traditional folk and fairy tales from around the world".

More specifically (off the top of my head):

Aesop's fables (classical Greek)
La Fontaine's fables (classic French)
Br'er Rabbit (southern USA)
Stories of Mullah Nasreddin (Sufi)
Jataka Tales (Buddhist)
not to mention the Brothers Grimm, Hans Anderson, and ...?

I'd guess they are public domain with copies free to read on the internet. Some are "for children of all ages" i.e. adults, but you could skim them or adapt them; and they often have "morals".

You might also find collections by Googling for country-specific stories -- Canadian folk stories for example ... or Nigerian, etc.

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