The Reading Bug Podcast - Original Adventures, Bedtime Stories and Music for Kids

Lauren's Little Bedtime Stories

Deep in Fernhollow forest, a tiny shy dragon named Pip has always believed her fire isn't real fire at all — just small, soft sparks that float gently on the air and quietly go out. When the big dragons all fly off to their annual Night Gathering and a lost fox kit is left crying alone in the fog, Pip and her fearless salamander companion Nessa venture out into the dark to help. What follows is a gentle, funny journey across slippery stones and past a family of very opinionated glow-beetles — and a quiet discovery that sometimes the smallest, steadiest light is exactly the right kind.

Every Lauren's Little Bedtime Story includes:

A Reading Bug Adventure with Original Songs

Part 2 of 2. Step right up! The Reading Bug has run off and joined PT Barnum's circus - and she's got a terrible case of stage fright. Join Lauren to follow her under the Big Top, and discover that the Reading Bug isn't the only ones with butterflies: Jumbo, the most magnificent elephant in the show, is refusing to budge from his crate, and without him, the whole parade comes to a halt.

With a cast of rhyming, Dr. Seuss-inspired performers - a fire horse rider, a human cannonball, and a daring trapeze artist - we must find a way to help a giant elephant and a tiny bug find the courage to step into the spotlight. Because sometimes the greatest show on earth needs a little help from its friends.

Explore the Magic: Check out the books featured in this adventure at: ⁠www.thereadingbug.com/adventures/circus

The Fact Fly's One Big Question

Why does your body force you to shut down for eight hours every single night — and what happens inside your brain while you do? Join Lauren and the Fact Fly (fresh off an accidental cold brew catastrophe) as they investigate the surprising science of sleep! From the "Reading Bug Bookstore" analogy that explains memory consolidation, to the brain's nighttime power-wash system called the Glymphatic System, this episode reveals that sleep is far more than just rest. You'll discover exactly how caffeine tricks your brain with a chemical con, why your brain cells actually shrink while you sleep, and what REM's "Movie Remix Mode" is really doing while you dream of cheese-drum solos. Whether you're following along with the Power-Down Protocol to become a Sleep Hero or marveling at the brain-gunk-flushing Cerebrospinal Fluid, this adventure makes the science of snoozing genuinely fascinating.

Perfect for night owls, curious dreamers, and anyone who's ever wondered why the "bean juice" always wears off at the worst possible moment!

Lauren's Little Bedtime Stories

On a warm summer evening at a little league field, a nine-year-old girl named Rosie steps up to bat in the bottom of the last inning — down by one, two outs, championship on the line — and everything she's worked for comes down to a single pitch. She loves baseball with her whole heart, but she hasn't gotten a hit all season. Her grandfather Granpa Lou, a former minor leaguer, gives her the one piece of advice she's been missing: the best pitch you ever see is the one you wait for. With her sunflower-seed-eating teammate Benny cheering from the dugout and Granpa Lou still and steady in the bleachers, Rosie finally learns the difference between trying hard and being patient — and discovers that sometimes the bravest thing you can do is let a pitch go by.

Every Lauren's Little Bedtime Story includes:

A Reading Bug Adventure with Original Songs

Part 1 of 2. Step right up! The Reading Bug has run off and joined PT Barnum's circus - and she's got a terrible case of stage fright. Join Lauren to follow her under the Big Top, and discover that the Reading Bug isn't the only ones with butterflies: Jumbo, the most magnificent elephant in the show, is refusing to budge from his crate, and without him, the whole parade comes to a halt.

With a cast of rhyming, Dr. Seuss-inspired performers - a fire horse rider, a human cannonball, and a daring trapeze artist - we must find a way to help a giant elephant and a tiny bug find the courage to step into the spotlight. Because sometimes the greatest show on earth needs a little help from its friends.

Explore the Magic: Check out the books featured in this adventure at: www.thereadingbug.com/adventures/circus

Lauren's Little Bedtime Stories

In the sun-warmed corner of a weathered garden shed, an elder Thistle-Mouse named Silas tends to a very special collection — not seeds or treasures, but lost buttons, rusted keys, faded ribbons, and forgotten things the world left behind. When a curious young mouse named Toby wanders in and wonders why anyone would bother keeping a pile of old junk, Silas places a small sky-blue button in his paw and asks him to look with his heart instead of his eyes. What follows is a quiet afternoon of stories, including a tiny silver bell that once told the flowers spring was coming, and a brand-new brass safety pin bent into the shape of a heart — proof that the library is never quite finished.

Every Lauren's Little Bedtime Story includes:

Calming Relaxation: Gentle breathing exercises to help your body relax.

Original Bedtime Lullaby: Wind-down time as Lauren sings you to sleep.

A Full Original Bedtime Story: A whimsical story read aloud by Lauren.

A Reading Bug Adventure with Original Songs

Full Story. Follow the White Rabbit down the hole as Lauren and the Reading Bug tumble into the magic book bag for a journey to the curious, nonsensical world of Wonderland! In this tea-riffic adventure, you'll discover what happens when a grinning Cheshire Cat points the way down two mysterious paths - and a Mad Hatter's tea party turns into a quest to help a new friend in need.

From pocket-watch-carrying rabbits to hedgehog croquet balls and flamingo mallets, Wonderland is every bit as wacky as you'd imagine. But when the Queen of Hearts threatens to unleash her "Off with their heads!" fury on poor Alice, our adventurers have to decide: turn back home, or stand bravely beside a new friend? Grab your teacup and join us for a topsy-turvy trip full of music, riddles, and wonderfully mad surprises.

Explore the Magic:

Book Worm's Story Snacks | Into the Midnight Zone

Can a bookworm who's afraid of the dark explore the deepest, darkest place on Earth?

Join the Book Worm on this deep-sea Story Snack and dive three thousand feet below the ocean's surface — where the sun has never reached, the water pressure would squish a submarine flat, and the darkness is full of things that glow.

Meet Augusta, a four-hundred-and-twelve-year-old anglerfish who knows everything about the deep ocean and almost nothing about the world above it. Discover lanternfish who wear their names in blinking lights, ride alongside a thirty-foot silver oarfish, and come face-to-face with a jellyfish that has been pulsing through the dark since before the dinosaurs. Then, when danger threatens Augusta's ancient neighborhood, the Book Worm will need your help to save the day.

Together, you'll discover why the dark isn't something to be afraid of — it's just full of things that haven't been found yet.

Lauren's Little Bedtime Stories

High on Mount Fumble, where pine trees grow in crooked spirals and streams sing to themselves, lives a small, round bear named Bram with a very unusual hobby - collecting clouds in glass jars. His cave shelves hold everything from a grumbly little storm cloud to his most prized possession: a breathtaking jar of pink-and-gold sunset. But one morning, the sunset cloud is gone. Bram follows a trail of pink mist all the way to the mountain's peak - past a family of riddle-demanding geese, a wobbly log bridge, and a very enthusiastic marmot narrator - only to find his cloud floating free in the middle of the real sky at golden hour. What he discovers there is far more beautiful than anything he could ever fit in a jar.

Every Lauren's Little Bedtime Story includes:

Calming Relaxation: Gentle breathing exercises to help your body relax.

Original Bedtime Lullaby: Wind-down time as Lauren sings you to sleep.

A Full Original Bedtime Story: A whimsical story read aloud by Lauren.

A Reading Bug Adventure with Original Songs

Part 2 of 2. Follow the White Rabbit down the hole as Lauren and the Reading Bug tumble into the magic book bag for a journey to the curious, nonsensical world of Wonderland! In this tea-riffic adventure, you'll discover what happens when a grinning Cheshire Cat points the way down two mysterious paths - and a Mad Hatter's tea party turns into a quest to help a new friend in need.

From pocket-watch-carrying rabbits to hedgehog croquet balls and flamingo mallets, Wonderland is every bit as wacky as you'd imagine. But when the Queen of Hearts threatens to unleash her "Off with their heads!" fury on poor Alice, our adventurers have to decide: turn back home, or stand bravely beside a new friend? Grab your teacup and join us for a topsy-turvy trip full of music, riddles, and wonderfully mad surprises.

Explore the Magic: