When your child fights sleep, it can feel like a battle you'll never win.
Imagine a bedtime routine you all look forward to, where you cuddle in and let the stress of the day melt away.
Welcome to Sleep Tight Stories, a calming weekly podcast that brings bedtime stories, cuddles and comfort to families worldwide.
The stories are quirky, relatable and spark wonder without overstimulation.
So listeners can fall asleep and stay asleep.
Each episode is narrated by me, Cheryl McLeod, a second grade teacher, and written by my husband Clark, an eternal second grader at heart.
Tune in tonight and bond over a story before drifting off to sleep.
Make bedtime the sweetest part of your day, Sleep Tight Stories.
Listen to Sleep Tight Stories on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hey, I'm Emily, revealing incredible jobs that are out there.
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I gotta know. He's a charmer, but his timing could use some work.
Winston loves trucks, so we'll explore construction, car racing and more.
Join us on Growing Up, the lingokids podcast inspiring you to chase all your dreams.
Listen to Growing Up on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Welcome to Lively Lewis Stories.
Born from our love for kids entertainment, we created Lively Lewis Stories to bring joy and imaginations to families everywhere.
As parents, we're always on the lookout for screen -free ways to captivate our kiddos.
Our mission? To connect families through the magic of storytelling, sparking creativity and conversations.
Every tale is packed with fun adventures and valuable life lessons that will have both parents and kids talking and laughing together.
So gather around, let your imaginations soar, and dive into the world of Lively Lewis Stories.
Tune in on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Once upon a time in a distant kingdom, there lived a kind and gentle girl named Cinderella.
She was loved by all who knew her, but lived a sad life because of her wicked stepmother and stepsisters.
Cinderella was made to do all the chores in the house while her stepsisters got to enjoy a life of luxury.
They teased and tormented her, calling her Cinderella because she was always covered in ashes from the fireplace.
One day news arrived that the king was hosting a grand ball at the palace, and everyone in the kingdom was invited.
Cinderella's heart swelled with the desire to attend, but her stepmother and stepsisters were cruel and made it seem impossible.
As Cinderella sobbed in the garden, a kind fairy appeared.
With a wave of her magic wand, she transformed Cinderella's rags into a beautiful gown, her old shoes into glass slippers, and even arranged transportation with a pumpkin turned into a carriage, mice and horses, and a rat into a coachman.
The fairy warned Cinderella that the magic would wear off at midnight, and she must leave the ball before then.
Cinderella joyfully arrived at the palace and captured everyone's attention, including the princes.
They danced the night away, but as the clock struck midnight, Cinderella hurriedly left, leaving behind a single glass slipper.
The prince was determined to find the mysterious beauty and searched the kingdom.
He eventually arrived at Cinderella's home.
Her stepsisters tried to squeeze into the glass slipper but failed.
When Cinderella's turn came, the slipper fit perfectly.
The prince recognized her and they were married.
Cinderella forgave her stepsisters for their past cruelty, and they lived happily ever after.
Did you know that long before Disney made this story into a movie, it was first written by two brothers from Germany?
They wrote a collection of fairy tales that people all over the world know and love today.
This is the story of the brothers Grimm.
Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm was born on January 4th, 1785.
His little brother, Wilhelm Carl Grimm, followed just 13 months later, on February 24th, 1786.
Back then there wasn't a single country called Germany.
Instead there were many places where people spoke German, and they were all part of the Holy Roman Empire.
The Grimm family lived in a small town called Hesse Castle.
Their father Philip worked as a lawyer and the town's clerk, while their mom, Dorothea, took care of the household.
They had four more kids, Carl, Ferdinand, Ludwig, and Charlotte.
They also had two housemaids, Gretchen and Marie, who helped out at home.
Sometimes Gretchen would sneak some bread and cheese to Jacob and Wilhelm, and then share exciting fairy tales with them.
Jacob and Wilhelm were best friends from a very young age.
They even slept in the same bed, and studied at the same desk.
Jacob was small and thin, but was full of determination.
His brother Wilhelm was taller and sensitive.
He loved poetry and art.
Both brothers were intelligent and hardworking, but they really didn't like going to school.
Their teacher Zinken was quite strict.
If a student forgot a grammar book, they got in deep trouble.
In 1791, when Jacob was 6 and Wilhelm was 5, their dad became a judge in another town.
The Grimm family moved into a lovely home with a giant lime tree in front.
The family was very close.
They all took care of each other, and their parents taught them to have pride in their German heritage.
Then, in January 1796, just six days after Jacob turned 11, their father suddenly passed away.
The Grimm family was heartbroken.
Besides being sad, they now had very little money.
Their mother couldn't take care of six kids on her own, so they had to arrange for Jacob and Wilhelm to go to school in a city called Kassel.
It was very hard to leave their mom and siblings, but they believed this was their best chance to get a good education.
At their new school they felt like outsiders.
They were far behind the other students, most of whom came from noble families.
The other kids teased them, and their teachers weren't much kinder.
However, Jacob and Wilhelm were determined to make it work.
Every morning before school, they spent 4 hours learning Latin and French.
They also studied geography.
photography, natural history, and other subjects for several hours a day.
Eventually their hard work began to pay off.
Jacob did so well in his studies that when he graduated he was ranked first in his class.
The brothers enjoyed sharing children's stories with each other, including myths, fables, and fairy tales.
Though they had less money than their classmates, the only time they really complained was when they couldn't afford to buy new books.
While away at school, the Grimm brothers met Professor Savigny.
Professor Savigny noticed that the brothers were smart and liked the same things he did.
He invited them to his house to meet other writers and thinkers.
They spent many evenings at the professor's home.
He taught them how to study books like classics, which are older books that contain wisdom and traditional stories.
At that time, many people thought the history of ancient Greece and Rome was more important than German history and stories, but the professor disagreed.
And so did the Grimm brothers.
At the professor's house, they met other writers who cared about German history too.
One of them was a poet named Clemens Brintano.
He shared a big idea with the group, a project to collect old German folk songs.
These were songs that people sang for a long time, like fairy tales.
But no one was writing them down, and Brintano was worried they might be forgotten.
So he and another writer started writing down these songs and hoped one day to compile them into a single book.
The brothers were thrilled about collecting German stories.
In 1804, the professor moved to Paris, and a year later he invited Jacob to join him as his assistant.
Jacob left the university and headed to Paris, where he read books for the professor.
He fell in love with Paris, its people, the food, and beautiful architecture.
Even though they lived far apart, the Grimm brothers wrote letters to each other, asking if they'd found any new stories or songs for children.
The brothers were eager to start their collection of fairy tale stories.
After spending ten months in Paris, Jacob made his way back to the castle, reuniting with Wilhelm, their mother and their siblings.
One day Jacob and Wilhelm were sent two enchanting tales.
These stories had been passed down through generations told by storytellers who had memorized them.
The juniper tree told of an evil stepmother who plotted harm against her stepson.
The fisherman and his wife told the story of a couple who were always wanting more from a magical fish.
Until then Jacob and Wilhelm had been searching everywhere for fairy tales.
Now they had two German fairy tales straight from the lips of a storyteller.
Inspired by this, the brothers set out to seek other storytellers and faithfully write their own tales for all to enjoy.
Luckily storytellers were closer than they thought.
Local women, like their next door neighbor, knew a lot of old stories also called folklore.
For example, Cinderella had been shared for hundreds of years across Europe, and each land the story was told a little differently.
Even the neighbor's nanny and housekeeper contributed their own stories.
And not just local women, but even soldiers, farmers and fishermen knew fairy tales that the brothers wrote down.
One retired soldier even shared several stories in exchange for a pair of pants.
Here's a list of some of the Brothers Grimm stories that you might recognize in books or movies.
Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Hanslyn Gretel, Rumpelstiltskin, Sleeping Beauty, Tom Thumb and The Golden Goose.
For six years the Grimm's collected, organized and edited these fairy tales, and in 1812 the Grimm's 86 stories were turned into a book.
Just five days before Christmas, Children's and Household Tales by the Brothers Grimm was published for people all over the world to enjoy.
Almost a hundred years later in the 1930s, Walt Disney, the iconic animator and filmmaker, made a journey to Germany.
During his visit he was captivated by the rich storytelling heritage of the country.
Among his discoveries were the enchanting tales of the Brothers Grimm, whose stories had been beloved by children and adults for generations.
Disney collected several of these tales, along with other German folklore books, which he brought back to the United States.
These books from Germany greatly influenced Disney's creative vision.
Inspired by the magical and often moralistic stories, he went on to transform many of these narratives into classic animated films.
Movies like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, which was Disney's first full length animated feature, were shaped by the fairy tales he encountered on his travels to Germany.
These stories, which became films, became foundational to Disney's legacy, enchanting audiences worldwide and shaping the future of animated storytelling.
It's pretty amazing to think what became of all these stories.
The Brothers Grimm worked together to gather and publish over the years.
Think of the many other books, movies and art they inspired.
We have the hard work of the brothers and all the storytellers before them to thank for these magical stories today.
We hope you enjoyed this episode about the Brothers Grimm.
Be sure to tune in next Monday for a new episode.
We also have shout outs to two of our donors, who donated via Patreon and Apple Podcasts, Adrian from Sandy Springs and Alice from Bangkok, Thailand, also Crew and Banks and Dax from Gilbert, Arizona.
Thanks so much for donating.
If you'd like to donate to Bedtime History, you can go to our website bedtimehistorystories .com and donate via Patreon or you can subscribe via Apple Podcasts.
A rested child is a happy child.
Sleep Tight Stories is a weekly podcast that brings comfort and joy to families worldwide with calming bedtime stories.
The stories are relevant to children and spark wonder without overstimulation, so they can fall asleep and stay asleep.
Listen to Sleep Tight Stories on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
For a bedtime routine you'll miss when they're grown, Sleep Tight Stories.
