The Magical Toy Library: Unicorns In Space 🦄 🚀 Sleepy Bedtime Stories For Kids | Rewind

[00:00:10] Hello and welcome back to Koala Moon, a podcast of original children's bedtime stories and meditations designed to make bedtime a dream. Now, give a little wink if you like unicorns. Give me a little blink if you like spaceships. Okay, now close both your eyes and smile if you like magic.

[00:00:38] Perfect. Now it's time to lie back, keep those eyes gently closed and see if you can get a teensy bit more snuggly. Relax your whole body as we get ready to return to the fantastical magical toy library, where we meet up with Katie and her little brother Bobby as they return from a visit there.

[00:01:01] This time, they borrow a silver spaceship and three unicorns. And it's not long before something magical happens and the children are taken on an unforgettable journey into outer space. And now it's time to begin Unicorns in Space by Gillian Rogerson.

[00:01:23] Before we begin, here's a quick ad break. Then we'll start tonight's bedtime story. If you'd like to support our podcast, enjoy ad free listening and unlock all our premium stories, you can join the Coco Club. To join, follow the link in the show notes.

[00:01:40] Thanks for joining us.

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[00:03:02] It was early afternoon and Katie and her little brother Bobby had just returned from the local toy library with new items to play with. This toy library wasn't just any old kind of toy library. It was a magical one. And the last time the children had borrowed some toys from it, they had been taken on an enchanted journey and met some friendly dinosaurs who lived in a castle.

[00:03:27] This time, Katie had borrowed a shiny silver spaceship and Bobby had borrowed three unicorns because he absolutely loved unicorns. Once they'd taken off their shoes, the children went into the new toys and sat down on the carpet. They placed the spaceship and unicorns in front of them. Their mother settled down in a comfy armchair next to the window with a book on her lap.

[00:03:56] She asked Katie and Bobby if they would like a snack or something to drink. Bobby said, No, thank you. We'll be too busy playing with our toys to stop for food and drink. Their mother smiled at the children, opened up her book and soon became absorbed in the intriguing story within its pages. Katie gave the spaceship an admiring look.

[00:04:21] She had dreamed about going into space ever since she'd been a toddler. And she'd always hoped that dream would come true one day. When she had borrowed the castle from the toy library, it had magically grown so big that she'd been able to go inside it with her brother. She really hoped the spaceship would grow bigger too. Out of nowhere, a worrying thought popped up in her mind and made her frown.

[00:04:52] What if there wasn't any magic in the spaceship? What if it was an ordinary toy after all? Her little brother noticed her frowning and asked what was wrong. Katie pointed to the spaceship and said, What if it isn't magic? Bobby smiled at his sister and said, It is magic. I know it is. Like the castle and the dinosaurs were.

[00:05:19] You just have to believe, Katie. I believe in magic. And I know my unicorns are going to come to life and talk to me. And your spaceship will get bigger, just like your castle did. Katie looked at the big, confident smile on her brother's face. And she knew he was right. She said, Okay, let me say something similar to what I said last time. And we'll see what happens.

[00:05:50] Bobby said, Can I give my unicorns some names before you do that? All unicorns need names before they go on any adventures. Katie said, of course. Bobby gave the unicorns a long, long look. And his brow furrowed in deep thought as he considered the most suitable names for them.

[00:06:15] He pointed to the first one, a silver unicorn with a long tail and a silver mane. He said, I'm going to call you Swishy Silvertail. I hope you like that name. Bobby called the second unicorn Glitternose because there was a sprinkle of glitter dust right on the tip of the unicorn's nose.

[00:06:41] And the third one, which was the smallest one, was given the name Rainbow Smile because it was rainbow coloured and had a happy smile on its little face. Bobby then introduced himself and Katie. He also told his new unicorn friends what his favourite colour was, in case they were interested. Katie said those were great names for unicorns.

[00:07:09] The children looked at the spaceship and the unicorns and thought about the best words to use to bring them to life. After some consideration, Katie said, I wish we could go on a magical adventure inside the spaceship and go zooming through the stars to faraway planets. Bobby said, Bobby said,

[00:07:36] I wish my unicorns could talk to me. Blue, green and purple sparkles appeared in the air in front of the children and landed on the spaceship and unicorns. The living room around the children faded and was replaced by a night sky that was full of twinkling stars.

[00:08:02] The spaceship grew and grew until it towered above the children. A door near the bottom of the ship opened and with a quiet whoosh, a series of silver steps unfolded from it and reached towards Katie and Bobby. Katie stood up and gazed at the huge spaceship in wonder. She said,

[00:08:31] Come on, Bobby, let's go inside it. Bobby wasn't listening because he was looking left and right. Where did my unicorns go? He asked. Did they run off somewhere? Katie said, They might be inside the spaceship. That's what happened to your dinosaurs last time. They were inside the castle. Shall we have a look for them?

[00:09:00] Bobby nodded. Katie took his hand and the children climbed the steps together. They went inside the spaceship. They found themselves in a large room with corridors leading off in various directions. Each corridor had a sign above it. Katie pointed to the corridor in front of them and said, That one leads to the control room.

[00:09:30] I think we should go there first. Are you going to fly the spaceship, Katie? Bobby asked. Katie frowned. I don't know how to fly a spaceship. I've never done it before. Bobby said confidently, You can do it. I know you can. I wonder where my unicorns are.

[00:09:59] As the children walked along the corridor towards the control room, Bobby called out, Swishy silver tail. Glitter nose. Rainbow smile. Hello. It's me, Bobby. And my sister Katie from the living room. Where are you? There was no reply, but Bobby wasn't concerned. He knew the unicorns would be here somewhere.

[00:10:29] Before long, Bobby found them. The three unicorns were sitting in large seats in the control room with their seatbelts fastened. They had grown to the size of horses. When Katie and Bobby entered the room, the unicorns waved and called out cheery hellos to them. Swishy silver tail said, Hello.

[00:10:57] We've been waiting for you. Thank you for my lovely name, Bobby. I love it. Glitter nose and rainbow smile said they loved their names too. Bobby skipped over to the unicorns and stopped in front of them. He grinned and said, I'm glad you like them. Are you magical unicorns? Can you fly?

[00:11:28] Swishy silver tail replied, Well, Bobby, here's the thing. Yes, normally we can fly, but we have a problem. We have almost run out of magical unicorn dust, which means we can't fly very far at the moment. And we need some dust as soon as possible. Can you help us find some, please? Bobby nodded.

[00:11:57] Yes, we can do that, can't we, Katie? Katie put her hand on her brother's shoulder and said, We can try, but I don't know where to start looking. She asked the unicorns if they knew where to look for the magical dust. The three unicorns sighed at the same time, causing a warm breeze to flutter over the children.

[00:12:27] Glitternose said, Alas, we don't know where to look either. The unicorn looked out of the window at the dark sky and added, Perhaps there are some magical planets out there with unicorn dust on them. Do you think we could explore some of those planets and take a closer look at them? We know what the dust looks like,

[00:12:54] and if we see any on the planets, we will let you know. Bobby looked up at Katie and asked, Can we do that? Can we explore the planets out there? The unicorns gave Katie expectant looks and waited for her answer. Katie smiled at them and said, Yes, we can do that.

[00:13:21] I just need to figure out how to fly the spaceship first. Katie looked over at a large control panel that was near the main window. There were a lot of flashing buttons on it. Katie walked over to it, silently hoping flying the spaceship would be an easy thing to do. Bobby went with her. The children stopped in front of the control panel.

[00:13:51] Katie noticed a small screen right in the middle of the buttons. A sign next to the screen contained the words, Automatic Pilot. Touch the screen for more instructions. Katie broke into a smile. Perhaps flying the spaceship would be easy after all. She tapped on the screen and a smiling face appeared.

[00:14:20] A warm voice came from the screen and said, Hello? Welcome aboard. I'm Alfie, your automatic pilot. Where would you like to go today? Katie moved closer to the screen and said, Please take us to a planet where we can find magical unicorn dust. Thank you.

[00:14:50] Alfie replied, Of course, take a seat and fasten your belts. I will let you know when we have reached our destination. With a low hum, the engines came to life. Katie thanked Alfie and with Bobby at her side, the children ran over to two empty seats at the side of the unicorns

[00:15:18] and strapped themselves in. They waited for the spaceship to move. But it stayed right where it was. They waited some more. Still, nothing happened. Katie shook her head at herself and said, Of course, we need a countdown. She began the countdown. And the others joined in. Five. Five. Four.

[00:15:48] Three. Two. Two. One. Lift off. The spaceship zoomed upwards, higher and higher, and was soon flying through the twinkling stars. The children and the unicorns looked out of the windows in amazement. They saw clusters of sparkling stars and comets shooting through the sky.

[00:16:16] Distant planets came into view. Some were large and round, and others were small and surrounded by colourful rings. The spaceship headed towards a silver planet that glimmered and glittered. As they got closer, the children and the unicorns saw it was covered in flowing rivers and gushing waterfalls.

[00:16:47] Alfie, the automatic pilot, said, We will shortly arrive at a planet that contains magical unicorn dust. Keep your seatbelts fastened until we have landed. The spaceship landed on an area of silver grass next to one of the largest waterfalls. The engines turned themselves off.

[00:17:15] The three unicorns peered closer through the window at the silver water tumbling over the rocks outside. Swishy Silvertail said to the children, I can see magical unicorn dust inside the water. I have enough dust left to fly towards the waterfall. I'll stand beneath it and let the dust settle on me.

[00:17:46] Bobby asked Glitternose and Rainbow Smile if they would be going outside too. Glitternose said no because the silver dust inside the water was perfect for Swishy Silvertail, but it wasn't the right kind of dust for either her or Rainbow Smile. They would need a different kind of unicorn dust. Bobby nodded and said they would keep looking until they found all the dust.

[00:18:15] Katie agreed with her brother and added they had plenty of time to help the unicorns and wouldn't stop exploring space until all three unicorns had found their magical dust. Glitternose thanked them and said the children were very kind. Swishy Silvertail unbuckled her seatbelt and trotted over to a corridor that led to an exit door.

[00:18:46] A minute later, the children and the other two unicorns looked out of the windows and saw Swishy Silvertail flying towards the sparkling waterfall. She gave them a wave and a smile. Swishy Silvertail landed on the rocks at the side of the tumbling water. Slowly, she took some steps forward into the falling water.

[00:19:15] As soon as the water settled on her skin, the unicorn sparkled and twinkled as brightly as the stars in the sky. Swishy Silvertail raised her head and let the magical water wash over her in a shimmering curtain of twinkles and sparkles.

[00:19:39] Bobby asked the other unicorns if the dust would give Swishy Silvertail her flying magic back. Rainbow Smile said, We'll soon find out. A short while later, Swishy Silvertail stepped out of the water and back onto the rocks.

[00:20:04] Katie and Bobby's mouths fell open in astonishment as they looked at the unicorn. She was sparkling and shimmering, glistening and glimmering. Swishy Silvertail was completely covered in shiny silver dust.

[00:20:27] She looked like she was wearing a delicate lace coat made out of beautiful tiny stars. The sparkling unicorn smiled, shook her silver mane and flew upwards and away from the waterfall. Swishy Silvertail flew higher and higher amongst the sparkling stars.

[00:20:54] She twirled and whirled around the stars, dancing in delight. Glitternose and Rainbow Smile laughed softly and said the magic dust had worked for their friend. Swishy Silvertail somersaulted her way to the spaceship and came back inside.

[00:21:17] She returned to the control room and spun around in a shimmering twirl of happiness. She said, I am completely covered in dust and it will last for years and years. Thank you so much for helping me, Katie and Bobby.

[00:21:41] The children said she was welcome and told the other two unicorns they would find their magical dust planets next. Swishy Silvertail smiled widely and said, I know where those planets are. When I was dancing amongst the stars, I saw two planets ahead and they were twinkling with unicorn dust.

[00:22:09] The shimmering silver unicorn gave the directions to Alfie, the automatic pilot. She secured herself in her seat again, joined in with the countdown and the spaceship gently rose from the planet of waterfalls and rivers and zoomed away. The next planet they landed on was covered in glistening gold sand and a glimmering gold ocean.

[00:22:39] Glitternose said, This is the planet for me. I can see the magical unicorn dust in the ocean. She unbuckled her seatbelt and trotted along the corridor towards the exit door.

[00:22:58] A few moments later, the children and the other two unicorns saw Glitternose flying towards the golden-hued planet. Glitternose landed on the beach and walked towards the golden waves that were moving back and forth across the sand. Slowly, she took some steps forward into the water.

[00:23:27] When she was far enough into the ocean, she began to swim. Through the gently undulating waves she went, swimming happily along. She ducked her head beneath the water. And when she lifted her head, the children were amazed to see that the unicorn was covered in glittering golden water drops.

[00:23:57] Glitternose swam towards the shore and walked out of the ocean. The unicorn was completely covered in glittering gold dust that shimmered like tiny golden sequins. Glitternose lifted her head and took to the starry sky, flying higher and higher.

[00:24:23] Glitternose flew amongst the sparkling silver stars. She twirled and whirled around them, dancing in utter happiness. The unicorns and children inside the spaceship watched the golden unicorn and smiled at her joyful expression.

[00:24:48] Glitternose somersaulted her way to the spaceship and came back inside it. Her eyes glistened in glee and she said, I have more than enough magical dust to last me for a very long time. She thanked the kind children and returned to her seat.

[00:25:12] After another countdown, the spaceship took off and zoomed towards the next planet. The third planet was surrounded by seven multicolored rings and looked like it was being hugged by a rainbow. Rainbow Smile said, This is the planet for me.

[00:25:38] All I have to do is fly through those colours and let the magical dust settle on me. He looked at the other unicorns and asked if they were thinking the same thing as he was. Swishy Silvertail and Glitternose nodded.

[00:25:59] The three unicorns smiled at Katie and Bobby, their eyes full of love for the kind children. Rainbow Smile said, Would you like to fly through the magical unicorn dust with me? Glitternose nodded. The children nodded and Katie asked how that would be possible.

[00:26:26] We will sprinkle some of our dust on you, Glitternose explained. You will become as magical as us and be able to fly through the sky. Katie and Bobby were too happy to speak and could only nod in reply. Glitternose and swishy Silvertail stood on either side of the children

[00:26:55] and gently shook their shimmering manes. Tiny sparkles of silver and gold came from the unicorns and landed softly on the children, making them twinkle and glow. Glitternose said to the children, When it's time to fly,

[00:27:20] just imagine yourself soaring through the sky and how it feels, and that's when the magic happens. I will come with you and so will Swishy Silvertail. We'll be right at your side. Rainbow Smile led the children along the corridor towards the exit door. The other two unicorns trotted behind them.

[00:27:51] The three unicorns and the children waited for the door to open. Bobby took hold of Katie's hand and grinned at her. She grinned back. The door opened smoothly. Rainbow Smile lifted off the floor and flew out of the opening. Katie and Bobby imagined themselves

[00:28:20] flying as easily as the unicorns. The children rose smoothly and flew slowly out of the door. Swishy Silvertail and Glitternose flew next to the children and told them to place one of their hands on the unicorn's backs as it would stop them from floating away.

[00:28:47] The children each placed a hand firmly on the back of a unicorn. Rainbow Smile flew ahead of them using the last of his magic. He swooped down into the first ring of colour that swirled around the planet. It was a warm shade of red. Through the red, he flew onwards into a ring of bright orange.

[00:29:18] The magical dust began to settle on him and the unicorn glimmered and shimmered. With the children safely between them, the other unicorns followed their friend. Katie and Bobby flew through the band of red. It felt warm and comforting like a soft blanket. Tiny sparkles of shimmering red dust

[00:29:47] settled on their clothes. Onwards, they all flew through orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. The three unicorns, the girl and her little brother, flew through the resplendent rainbow ribbons

[00:30:16] three more times to make sure Rainbow Smile had collected enough magical dust. Katie and Bobby became more and more relaxed with every colour they flew through. They became sleepier and sleepier too and started to yawn.

[00:30:45] Rainbow Smile came to a stop and said he now had more than enough magical dust to last him for a very long time. The unicorns had noticed the children yawning and helped them fly back to the spaceship and inside it. Once everyone was secured in their seats,

[00:31:12] Rainbow Smile asked the automatic pilot to take them back to the children's living room. In very tired voices, the children began the countdown. Five, four, three, two, one.

[00:31:42] Katie and Bobby closed their heavy eyes. The spaceship flew smoothly through the sky. In no time at all, the children felt themselves landing. They opened their tired eyes and said the magic words together. Thank you, spaceship. Thank you, unicorns.

[00:32:12] The inside of the spaceship faded away and the children were back on the carpet in their living room with the much smaller spaceship in front of them. The three unicorns had shrunk back to their original sizes. Swishy silver tail, glitter nose and rainbow smile waved to the children, sparkled brightly

[00:32:42] and then became still the gold and silver glitter that lingered on the children twinkled for a moment and then disappeared. Bobby yawned and laid himself down on the carpet, a dreamy smile on his face. He mumbled something about flying making him tired

[00:33:12] and how he needed a nap. Katie yawned and yawned. Perhaps she needed a nap too. Katie settled down on the carpet, closed her eyes and drifted softly into a restful sleep. Her dreams were full of flying unicorns,

[00:33:41] silver spaceships and new adventures on the horizon that waited for her and Bobby. and Bobby. Her