Cuddle The Puggle & The Soapbox Race 🚀⭐️ Bedtime Stories to Help Kids Sleep Better

[00:00:00] Hello and welcome back to Koala Moon, a podcast of original children's bedtime stories and meditations designed to make bedtime a dream. Oh, tonight's story is a riotous celebration of all the wonder and fun that's possible in Sleepy Forest.

[00:00:31] Not only are a number of your favorite familiar characters taking part in a very special event, there is a genuine sense of excitement that grows as the story progresses, which I can certainly feel.

[00:00:43] Trying to keep it sleepy is going to be an effort, but I'll do my best, and you can rest assured that if you do fall asleep, you can always listen again tomorrow.

[00:01:36] Learn more at storybutton.com. So what's going on? Well, in tonight's story, Huggle and Snuggle the Puggles, yes, that's Cuddle's brother and sister, are organizing a fundraiser for the school library. But wait till you find out what it is. It isn't a silent sit-down or a sponsored sleep.

[00:02:01] Oh no. It involves arts and craft, dressing up, and a whole lot of speed. Cuddle and Kevin can't wait to enter, and I can't wait to begin. First, slip into bed. Have a lovely stretch and a wriggle and maybe let out a little sigh or two. Lovely.

[00:02:28] Now breathe in and out through your nose a couple of times to get still and really ready to listen. Perfect. Off we head into the heart of Sleepy Forest. This is Cuddle the Puggle and the Soapbox Race by Jane Thomas.

[00:02:53] There is an air of excitement in the platypus household this morning. Cuddle was up first, racing down the stairs and bursting into the kitchen, all ready to say a cheery good morning, good morning to whoever was there. But nobody else was around.

[00:03:11] So Cuddle decided to make herself useful and get everything together for breakfast. She took five bowls from the cupboard, holding them close and with both hands just to be sure she didn't have any chance of dropping them.

[00:03:24] She laid them out on the table, one for her mother, one for her father, one for Huggle, and one for Snuggle. And the last one, her favorite blue one with the pink roses, was for her.

[00:03:37] Cuddle took five spoons from the drawer, carefully picking them up one at a time so as not to make any noise and wake the others. Just because she was so excited she couldn't sleep didn't mean everyone else wanted to be up that early too.

[00:03:53] She laid them on the table and then added five glasses next to the bowls. Something important was missing. She just knew it, but she couldn't think what. Cuddle replayed breakfast in her mind and realized that of course she'd only gone and forgotten the cereal.

[00:04:16] She rushed over to the cupboard and pulled out the colorful boxes, accidentally knocking a silver sugar bowl onto the floor in her rush to get everything ready. The bowl clattered about on the tile, spilling sugar everywhere. And Cuddle heard a door open upstairs and

[00:04:36] the gentle patter of webbed feet heading her way. There wasn't time to clear it up properly, so she threw a dishcloth over the mess and stood at the window pretending to be extremely interested in a parrot that was

[00:04:50] having a morning wash in the birdbath, feathers glistening and sparkling in the sunshine. What was that noise, Cuddle? Her father asked. Nice, she said, putting her very best innocent look on her face. Does it have anything to do with what's beneath the dishcloth? He said.

[00:05:17] Cuddle's face went very pink indeed. He lifted up a corner and smiled at the spread of sugar on the floor. The silver bowl on its side and the special silver sugar spoon lying next to it. Tell you what, he said to Cuddle.

[00:05:37] I'll help you clear it up as a thank you for getting everything ready for breakfast, and nobody needs to know. The little Puggle rushed over and gave her father a hug and explained she'd been in a hurry and she was so excited.

[00:05:54] Because today was the day that Huggle and Snuggle, yes, said her father. I'm excited too, we all are. They'll be here soon enough. Over breakfast, Cuddle's brother and sister made her promise not to say anything to anyone at school.

[00:06:17] Not even Kevin, she asked, her bill quivering a little. She swore he was very good at keeping secrets. And actually, she added importantly, they had some of their very own. She knew he wouldn't say a word to anyone. So Huggle and Snuggle agreed. Kevin could be told.

[00:06:40] Which is exactly what Cuddle did as they sat atop Apollo the Alligator, their school bus, gliding slowly through the water on Sleepy River. Kevin bounced up and down against his scale of a seat when Cuddle told him. A soapbox race? That would be amazing.

[00:06:59] Can we make one that looks like an alligator, Cuddle? Can we? Can we, can we? It was a wonderful idea, and one that had them whispering all day in school and slipping notes to each other with different designs, showing just how they might make an alligator on wheels

[00:07:17] that would be raced through the town at the weekend. Huggle and Snuggle, you see, had been put in charge of the fundraiser for the school library. More books were needed. And let's face it, when aren't more books needed?

[00:07:33] And they'd been challenged to come up with a fun new event. They must have gone through a thousand ideas before they hit on the idea of soapbox racing. Let's do a raffle, Snuggle had suggested. Huggle rolled his eyes. They'd gone through raffles and fancy dress days, and

[00:07:57] eat as much watermelon as you can competitions, and guess the weight of the hummingbird cake. But everything had been done before, and they wanted something new. That's when Huggle read in the newspaper all about a race in Paris,

[00:08:15] where the waiters and waitresses of the city had to run for over a mile while carrying a silver tray that held a glass of water, a cup of coffee, and a single golden croissant. Huggle and Snuggle decided that a race sounded like a lot of fun, and

[00:08:35] they started trying to work out the best sort of race they could hold. It needed to be something that anyone could win, and where prizes could be given for the best ideas, as well as reaching the finishing line before the others.

[00:08:52] They'd almost gone with the idea of a rubber duck race down the river, but it became far too complicated working out when the various alligator buses had a break in their schedules. And besides, what would they do with the hundreds of rubber ducks after the race was finished?

[00:09:11] Snuggle secretly loved the idea of bath time shared with a few hundred bright yellow ducks for company, but she kept that one to herself. Her single duck that she had liked giving rainbow bubble hairdos to and

[00:09:27] pretending it was everything from a princess to a pirate would have to be enough. Which is how they hit on the idea of a soapbox race. Everyone entering would have to wear fancy dress that somehow matched their

[00:09:43] soapbox design, and they could use the hill that winds gently from the top of the village to the bottom. The whole school was to get involved. Everyone from Sleepy Forest High and Sleepy Forest Elementary,

[00:10:00] and even the smallest ones in the Kookaburra Kindy would have a chance to enter. There was to be a big announcement of the event at the end of the school day, and everyone would be sent home with a leaflet that Snuggle had carefully designed and drawn.

[00:10:17] The library needs books, she'd written across the top, followed by so we need you, with the U in big bold letters, followed by three excited exclamation points. She'd then drawn a picture of a koala and a kangaroo wearing flying goggles,

[00:10:39] rushing down a hill on a wooden box on wheels. The box had wings on either side, and it was all painted white. She'd even added wooden tail feathers and painted along the side, Albatross Airways, so nobody was in any doubt that this was an airplane

[00:10:59] racing down the hill. Snuggle had then added some birds in the sky, only really they were half open books that looked a little bit like birds and also looked a little bit like books. The great race was to take place on Sunday in the afternoon, and

[00:11:20] everyone who wanted to join in could pay the fee and sign up in the school library. The library had never been so busy. The giraffe who worked there, the perfect job for a giraffe given they don't ever

[00:11:34] need to climb ladders to reach the books that are on the higher shelves, kept having to print off more and more sign up sheets. And in the end, she joked that they could almost make a book of the list of names alone.

[00:11:50] Cuddle and Kevin spend ages in Kevin's father's shed, cutting cardboard and wood, and getting almost completely covered in green paint as they attempted to recreate their alligator bus. The rules stated that anyone in the soapbox as it raced down the hill must be dressed to match the design.

[00:12:14] So Cuddle also set to work creating a costume that looked just like the woodpecker who worked on the alligator selling tickets and checking bus passes. Kevin would go as himself, complete with lunchbox on his knee, a passenger on the bus ready for school.

[00:12:35] They spent ages adding a complicated part to the alligator's mouth so that they could pour some magic fluid into a hole and as the alligator raced down the hill, the liquid would rush into a wand and the wand would pour out bubbles,

[00:12:52] just the way the alligator buses bubbled the water as they swam along. All across Sleepy Forest, animals were coming together to make the perfect soapboxes. A tiny frog called Fritz and his even tinier cousin called Philomena were also getting absolutely covered in green paint as they crafted

[00:13:18] an enormous lily pad to fit onto their sets of wheels. Then they took some old sacks and threaded them onto sticks, adding more and more until they had created the perfect shape for a water lily flower.

[00:13:37] They used white paint and pink paint and made the petals as lifelike as they could. It would have been easy for them to go as themselves after all. Frogs do like hanging out on lily pads, but they took ages creating two perfect dragonfly costumes as well.

[00:13:58] Philomena's was a gorgeous turquoise color and Fritz made his a glorious ruby red. And together, they would look like two gemstones whizzing down the hill, sparkling in the sunlight. A door mouse worked by himself to make something that looked exactly like a partly open matchbox.

[00:14:24] He even added a strip of rough sandpaper to the side, just as you'll see on real matchboxes. And took some long twigs and added red felt ends to them to look just like matches. He would climb into the matchbox and wearing a blue and

[00:14:43] white striped nightcap, take the opportunity to have a nap as he dashed down the hill. The door mouse was always looking for chances to have naps. And just because he was involved in a race didn't mean he should miss out.

[00:15:01] One of the most complicated builds was by a sloth and a bird of paradise, made more complicated by the fact the sloth kept stopping to fall asleep for a while. The build might have been finished in just a few days if he hadn't insisted on

[00:15:18] sleeping for hour after hour. He had once seen, on the outskirts of Sleepy Forest, a bright yellow van going past. On its roof, a sloth had lain, with his arm hanging down over the windshield and acting as a wiper blade as the rain poured down.

[00:15:40] The van had a gleaming chrome bumper and wheels, so the sloth took shiny foil from the drawer in his mother's kitchen and used that on his creation. He would of course lie on the roof of the yellow van, just as he had seen the other sloth do.

[00:15:59] And the bird of paradise would sit in a bed in the back, surrounded by soft cushions and blankets, just as he had seen in the van that time too. They thought about rounding up fireflies and putting them in jars to make their soapbox even more realistic.

[00:16:18] But in the end, they decided it might be a disaster if they crashed. So instead, they took the lights that were used on the Christmas tree and wrapped those around instead. A badger and a mole decided the best soapbox for

[00:16:34] this particular event would be, of course, a giant book. They picked one of their very favorites, The Wind in the Willows, and carefully painted their wooden crate to look exactly like the book. In order to make it absolutely perfect,

[00:16:56] they spent a few days begging various water rats to join them in the race. Finally, finding a particularly excitable one called Rollo, who clapped his paws and dashed off to find the perfect outfit to copy his favorite character from the book. The final touch?

[00:17:17] The final flourish that they were sure would give them the win? The mole asked one of his worm friends to play the part of a bookworm, his head poking out from one side of the book and his tail from the other.

[00:17:34] The worm wasn't really into doing things at great speed, but he promised to help if they could show him their safety precautions. The seatbelt, the goggles, and the bright yellow helmet they provided were enough to reassure him, and he agreed to be part of the team.

[00:17:56] Huggle and Snuggle were a little sad that they couldn't take part in the race too, but they were organizing everything, and they had to help pick the winner for most creative soapbox. Huggle dressed up as his favorite book character though, wearing a black cape

[00:18:14] and a tie, and holding a wand, and drawing a lightning bolt onto his forehead. And Snuggle chose her favorite, making a little blue jacket with brass buttons, and using felt to make her pen look exactly like a carrot. To finish it off, she added some bunny rabbit ears,

[00:18:36] just to be sure people would know who she was meant to be. On the day of the race, it took a lot of effort for everyone to get their soapboxes to the top of the hill. Some of the smaller animals really struggled, not least because they were also

[00:18:52] dressed in complicated clothing that they didn't want to damage. Fritz and Philomena were particularly relieved when an elephant offered to help them, and indeed, the elephant spent the whole morning going up and down the hill, pushing soapboxes that looked like giant cupcakes and

[00:19:13] pirate ships, and a bright red pair of lips. And even a spaceship, complete with a cotton wool cloud of smoke, all the way to the top of the hill. The whole village turned out to watch the event. Cafes spilled out onto the pavement, and

[00:19:32] the animals of Sleepy Forest jostled to get the best seats and the best views. Bales of hay were placed all along either side of the route, for when the inevitable happened and the soapbox steered off its intended course.

[00:19:52] Huggle stood at the top of the course, making sure that everyone was strapped in safely before they launched themselves down the hill. His cape flapped importantly around him, and he used his wand to wave everyone across the starting line. And Snuggle stood at the bottom of the course,

[00:20:13] brass buttons on her blue jacket gleaming in the sunshine, timing how quickly everyone reached the end of the race, filling in numbers on her little chart, using, of course, her carrot-shaped pen to do the job. A particularly worried worm, wearing a bright yellow hard hat,

[00:20:37] gulped a few times as his turn came closer and closer. But his friend the mole promised to sit right next to him and assured him everything would be just fine. As the giant copy of The Wind in the Willows launched its way down the hill,

[00:20:56] the crowd cheered, and the worm quite forgot to be worried after all. He closed his eyes and felt the wind rushing against his face, daring to open his eyes at one point to glimpse the badger and

[00:21:12] the mole and the water rat all reaching their arms into the air and squealing with delight. Snuggle had no idea what would be coming towards her next, and she carefully noted who arrived in which soapbox. Her list was full of extraordinary creations, and she was just

[00:21:35] beginning to wonder how on Earth they would choose a winner for the best creation when she saw a soapbox charging down the hill. And she knew, just knew in that very moment she had her winner. The giant yellow rubber duck, complete with water wings and

[00:21:58] a red and white striped water donut, looked absolutely magnificent as it raced towards her. Two big bullfrogs had covered themselves in white sheets and puffed out their necks so they looked for all the world like a couple of

[00:22:19] giant bubbles clinging on to the back of the rubber duck. Speaking of bubbles, the crowd went wild for Cuddle and Kevin's alligator that blew a stream of bubbles from its mouth as it rushed down the hill.

[00:22:36] They went over a bump and Kevin lost his lunchbox and Cuddle very nearly fell off. But they raced across the finish line with huge smiles and a big thumbs up from Snuggle. It turned out the fastest soapbox was, very appropriately,

[00:22:57] the rocket with the cotton wool cloud of smoke. The three chinchillas who had made it together bounced up excitedly to the winner's podium and proudly stood in place for photographs, sporting their golden dandelion medals. They were joined by the two bullfrogs who had won first place for

[00:23:21] their creativity in making the giant rubber duck. And they puffed up their necks with pride and waved to the cheering crowd. Two big bubbles wearing the winning daisy chain garlands. Kevin was eventually reunited with his lunchbox after he and

[00:23:42] Cuddle walked all the way back up the hill, asking anyone if they'd seen it. And the worm who had served as the perfect bookworm in the middle of the wind in the willows decided he quite liked life in the fast lane after all.

[00:24:00] And promptly signed up to the after school circus classes where he could swing in the air on the highest swings. And if he was very lucky, learn to be shot out of a cannon. When the books started to arrive at the school library, everyone suddenly felt like winners.

[00:24:25] A long line of gorillas walked back and forth between the van and the library for hour after hour. Pushing wheelbarrows full of books that had all been bought thanks to the wonderful efforts of all the soapbox racers.

[00:24:46] The giraffe enlisted a whole load of assistance to help her find homes for the new books on the shelves. And of course, Cuddle and Kevin signed up for that. I want to read this one first, said Kevin, picking up a book with a cover dressed with dragons.

[00:25:07] No, this one, no, this one. Each book he picked up seemed as exciting as the last. And he bounced from one side of the library to the other, making notes about all the books he would read.

[00:25:23] Cuddle chose carefully, knowing she was only allowed to take one book out at a time. And eventually picked a very thick, very heavy book with a picture of two dogs on the front. The Adventures of Hector and Sonny, it was called. And in it were dozens and

[00:25:46] dozens of stories where they traveled all over the world together. It sounded like just the sort of book she'd love to have read to her as she climbed into bed. With just the sort of stories she loved to hear as she drifted off to sleep.

[00:26:06] The alligator soapbox lived at the end of the garden. And Cuddle's mother added a pile of compost to its back and planted row after row of lettuces. It'll keep looking just like an alligator, she promised Cuddle, with all that green on there.

[00:26:27] Cuddle carefully cut out a small wooden woodpecker, just like the one she had dressed as during the race. And just like the one that collected tickets on the alligator bus. And she painted it absolutely perfectly. She told her mother it was to keep other birds away and

[00:26:48] stop them eating the lettuce seeds she'd planted. But they both really knew it was because Cuddle wanted the alligator to be as close to the school bus as she could make it. That evening, as a sort of prize for making such a brilliant soapbox,

[00:27:09] Snuggle and Huggle promised they'd each read her a story from her library book. Besides, the adventures of Hector and Sunny looked just like the sort of thing they loved too. Cuddle slipped into her favorite soft yellow pajamas when she climbed out of the bath.

[00:27:33] She suddenly realized she was very, very tired indeed, after all the excitement of the day. And all the carrying of books this way and that. Reaching up to high shelves and down to low shelves to find the perfect places for them all.

[00:27:55] She curled up under the covers, and Snuggle made sure she was tucked in exactly the way she liked, with the blankets pulled right up to her little puggle beak. Snuggle pulled her blue jacket with the brass buttons around herself.

[00:28:17] For she loved it so much, she decided to keep wearing it long after she'd removed the bunny rabbit ears. And then Snuggle opened the book and started to read aloud to Cuddle. Watching as her little sister smiled and slipped into dreams of Hector and Sunny,

[00:28:43] who disappeared into the furthest corners of the world and had the most wonderful, magical adventures of them all.