High in the warm green forest, where the light came down through the leaves in soft golden patches, the little sloth was making her slow way home to her favourite branch — and she was in no hurry at all. She reached out one long arm, slowly, and took hold of the next branch, and then she rested. She reached out the other arm, slowly, and found her grip, and then she rested again. There was no rush. The afternoon was warm and the leaves smelled green and good, and a gentle breeze moved through the canopy and rocked her, just slightly, the way you might rock a cradle. At last she reached the branch she loved best, the one where the light was warmest and the leaves were softest, and she settled herself into it with a long, slow, deeply contented sigh. She blinked her sleepy eyes once, very slowly, and then again, even more slowly, and the warm forest swayed her gently, and the golden light grew soft, and the little sloth, who was never in a hurry about anything, was in no hurry at all to stay awake.
Bedtime Stories About a Sleepy Sloth
No creature on earth is better suited to a bedtime story than the sloth, because the sloth has made an entire way of life out of the very thing a child is being asked to do: slow down. Everything a sloth does, it does gently and unhurriedly — reaching for a leaf, turning its head, making its long, careful way along a branch. There is no rush in a sloth, no urgency, no sense of anywhere it needs to be. For a child whose mind is still racing at the end of the day, a story that moves at a sloth's pace is a quiet invitation to let that racing ease, to discover that slow can feel wonderful rather than frustrating.
The sloth also spends a great deal of its life resting, high in the warm green canopy, and it rests without the slightest worry. It hangs comfortably among the leaves, perfectly content, in no hurry to be anywhere else. This image — a creature completely at peace with stillness, entirely unbothered by the passing of time — is profoundly settling for children, who live in a world that is usually asking them to hurry. A sloth story gives them permission, for a few minutes, to be as slow and as content as the sloth.
Storieman's sloth stories move at the gentlest possible pace, lingering on the warm dappled light of the forest, the soft green smell of the leaves, the slow blink of sleepy eyes. Nothing exciting happens, and that is entirely the point: the story simply slows and slows, like the sloth itself reaching its favourite resting branch, until child and sloth alike have drifted, unhurried and content, into sleep.
“In No Hurry At All”
— Sample excerpt · Storieman
Free to try · personalised to your child · designed for sleep
Common questions
Why is a sloth such a good character for a bedtime story?
The sloth embodies the single most important quality of bedtime: slowing down. Everything a sloth does is gentle and unhurried, and it rests for much of its life without a trace of worry. A story that moves at a sloth's pace gently coaxes a child's racing mind to ease, modelling — without ever instructing — that slow and still can feel wonderful.
Are sloth stories calming for children who find it hard to slow down?
Often very much so. For a child whose mind is still busy at bedtime, the sloth's complete contentment with slowness can be a kind of permission — a model of a creature entirely at peace with stillness. Storieman's sloth stories deliberately move slower and slower as they go, carrying that easing pace into the child's own breathing.
What age range enjoys sleepy sloth stories most?
Sloth stories are lovely from about age 2 to 8. The youngest children delight in the gentle, slightly funny slowness and the cosy warmth of the forest canopy; older children enjoy the genuinely calming rhythm and the appealing idea of a creature who is never, ever in a hurry.
Can my child be part of the sloth's story?
Yes. Storieman can weave your child's name and details gently into the warm green forest, or write them as a quiet friend who keeps the sloth company on its slow journey home. The sloth can even take a name your child chooses and a favourite resting branch all its own.