✦ Press Play Once ✦

Long Listens

Classic audiobooks for sleep: long bedtime stories and poems, read slowly. Press play, dim the lights and drift off.

Some nights call for more than one short story. Each Long Listen gathers several Storyland Classics read-alouds into a single video, so you can press play once, turn the lights down and let the stories carry you off to sleep. Think of them as classic audiobooks for sleep, with gentle pictures if you want them.

The pacing is deliberately unhurried: a calm, gentle voice, soft music and vintage storybook illustration that moves quietly alongside the words, with no sudden noises or bright flashes. The narration carries every story on its own, so the screen can be dimmed or turned away.

For the longest listen, play the whole Long Listens playlist below: about three and a half hours of stories and poems, one after another.

Classic Fairy Tales & Bedtime Poems: 50 min bedtime read-aloud50:59 11 stories and poems Classic Fairy Tales & Bedtime Poems 6 Classic Fairy Tales for Bedtime: 40 min bedtime read-aloud40:08 6 fairy tales 6 Classic Fairy Tales for Bedtime Eugene Field Poems Read Aloud: 27 min bedtime read-aloud26:54 9 poems Eugene Field Poems Read Aloud A. A. Milne Bedtime Poems: 26 min bedtime read-aloud25:44 10 poems A. A. Milne Bedtime Poems 11 Bedtime Poems for Relaxation and Sleep: 25 min bedtime read-aloud24:31 11 poems 11 Bedtime Poems for Relaxation and Sleep A Child’s Garden of Verses: 18 min bedtime read-aloud18:20 13 poems A Child’s Garden of Verses 30 Classic Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes: 18 min bedtime read-aloud18:23 30 rhymes 30 Classic Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes Aesop’s Fables Treasury: 15 min bedtime read-aloud15:16 8 fables Aesop’s Fables Treasury

Play Them All: 3½ Hours of Stories to Fall Asleep To

The whole playlist  ✦  8 audiobook-style read-alouds

Every Long Listen, one after another  ✦  Open the playlist on YouTube

Classic Fairy Tales & Bedtime Poems

Stories & Poems  ✦  11 stories and poems  ✦  50 min

The longest listen on the channel: fairy tales, folk tales and lullaby poems, from Wynken, Blynken, and Nod to Silver. Explore the collection →

What’s inside (tap a time to start there):

  1. 0:10 Wynken, Blynken, and Nod
  2. 3:15 The Little Engine That Could
  3. 12:12 The Moon
  4. 13:45 The Emperor’s New Clothes
  5. 26:12 The Rock-a-By Lady
  6. 28:51 The Sugar-Plum Tree
  7. 31:26 Johnny-Cake
  8. 37:31 Tired Tim
  9. 38:33 The Little Red Hen
  10. 47:35 Escape at Bedtime
  11. 49:15 Silver

6 Classic Fairy Tales for Bedtime

Fairy Tales  ✦  6 fairy tales  ✦  40 min

Six beloved fairy tales, from Jack and the Beanstalk to Rumpelstiltskin, told slowly and gently. Explore the collection →

What’s inside (tap a time to start there):

  1. 0:00 Jack and the Beanstalk
  2. 7:15 The Princess and the Pea
  3. 10:43 Little Red Riding Hood
  4. 16:41 The Ugly Duckling
  5. 26:50 The Elves and the Shoemaker
  6. 31:51 Rumpelstiltskin

Eugene Field Poems Read Aloud

Poems  ✦  9 poems  ✦  27 min

Nine of Eugene Field’s dreamiest poems, from Wynken, Blynken, and Nod to The Shut-Eye Train. Explore the collection →

What’s inside (tap a time to start there):

  1. 0:07 Wynken, Blynken, and Nod
  2. 3:10 The Sugar-Plum Tree
  3. 5:46 The Fly-Away Horse
  4. 9:58 The Duel
  5. 12:54 Seein’ Things
  6. 15:55 Little Boy Blue
  7. 17:56 The Rock-a-By Lady
  8. 20:35 The Night Wind
  9. 23:54 The Shut-Eye Train

A. A. Milne Bedtime Poems

Poems  ✦  10 poems  ✦  26 min

Ten poems from When We Were Very Young (1924), from Teddy Bear to Vespers. Explore the collection →

What’s inside (tap a time to start there):

  1. 0:11 Teddy Bear
  2. 6:54 Buckingham Palace
  3. 9:10 Puppy and I
  4. 10:54 The King’s Breakfast
  5. 14:20 The Three Foxes
  6. 16:41 Disobedience
  7. 20:05 The Island
  8. 22:00 Halfway Down
  9. 23:15 Happiness
  10. 23:42 Vespers

11 Bedtime Poems for Relaxation and Sleep

Poems  ✦  11 poems  ✦  25 min

Whispered Wonders: lullaby poems by Eugene Field, Robert Louis Stevenson and Walter de la Mare. Explore the collection →

What’s inside (tap a time to start there):

  1. 0:06 Wynken, Blynken, and Nod
  2. 3:09 The Land of Nod
  3. 4:31 The Moon
  4. 6:03 The Land of Counterpane
  5. 7:16 Escape at Bedtime
  6. 8:55 Someone
  7. 10:19 Tired Tim
  8. 11:20 The Night Wind
  9. 14:40 The Sugar-Plum Tree
  10. 17:14 The Fly-Away Horse
  11. 21:22 The Rock-a-By Lady

A Child’s Garden of Verses

Poems  ✦  13 poems  ✦  18 min

Thirteen poems from Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses, from The Moon to The Swing. Explore the collection →

What’s inside (tap a time to start there):

  1. 0:13 The Moon
  2. 1:43 The Land of Nod
  3. 3:14 Escape at Bedtime
  4. 4:50 The Wind
  5. 6:45 Rain
  6. 7:10 Foreign Lands
  7. 9:06 The Cow
  8. 10:16 The Hayloft
  9. 11:30 My Shadow
  10. 13:32 Bed in Summer
  11. 14:26 The Lamplighter
  12. 16:01 The Land of Counterpane
  13. 17:13 The Swing

30 Classic Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes

Nursery Rhymes  ✦  30 rhymes  ✦  18 min

Thirty favorite rhymes in one vertical storybook, from Humpty Dumpty to Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Explore the collection →

What’s inside:

Every rhyme in it has its own page, with the words, a little history and a player that starts at that rhyme. See every nursery rhyme, A to Z.

Aesop’s Fables Treasury

Fables  ✦  8 fables  ✦  15 min

Eight fables with timeless morals, from The Lion and the Mouse to The Tortoise and the Hare. Explore the collection →

What’s inside (tap a time to start there):

  1. 0:10 The Lion and the Mouse
  2. 2:09 The North Wind and the Sun
  3. 4:26 The Crow and the Pitcher
  4. 5:31 The Dove and the Ant
  5. 6:30 The Boy Who Cried Wolf
  6. 8:51 The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
  7. 12:05 The Ants and the Grasshopper
  8. 13:39 The Tortoise and the Hare

✦ For Grown-Ups ✦

Good to Know

Are these audiobooks for sleep?

In spirit, yes. Each Long Listen is a classic story or poem collection read aloud from start to finish, like an audiobook, with soft vintage illustration on screen. Many people simply listen with the screen dimmed or turned away.

Are these good for falling asleep to?

That is exactly what they are made for. Each one runs 15 to 50 minutes with a slow, steady pace and no sudden sounds, and the full playlist plays for about three and a half hours.

Are these sleep stories for grown-ups too?

Very much so. Many listeners are adults who remember these stories and poems from childhood and find the calm narration a peaceful way to fall asleep. Parents and grandparents also share them at bedtime with little ones.

Wondering about classroom use? See our FAQ for teachers and families.

✦ Keep Exploring ✦

More Collections

Start Here

The best first listens: a hand-picked mix of stories, poems and rhymes.

Low-Stimulation Bedtime Stories & Poems

The calmest read-alouds: gentle narration and a slow, quiet pace for winding down.

Cozy Bedtime Stories

Gentle classic tales and lullaby poems for winding down.

All Collections

Browse every collection by author and by interest.