Welcome to our Top 24 Dream Stories collection for kids to read online! This delightful selection of bedtime stories is tailored especially for children and includes enchanting tales with pictures that will make story time even more engaging. Available in PDF format, these free and easily downloadable stories are perfect for learning and educational purposes, designed to ignite your child’s imagination and foster a love for reading. From short, simple tales for preschool and kindergarten children to longer, classic fairy tales for elementary students, this diverse collection offers something for everyone, boys and girls alike.

Dream stories hold a special appeal for kids, as they resonate with their ability to create fantastical worlds in their sleep, offering an unparalleled sense of wonder and magic. The timeless charm of these night time fables highlights important moral lessons that are essential in the early years and development of children. Reading or listening to dream stories, either through a printable version or an audio recording, can be a fun and engaging activity for toddlers and children in EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage). Not only do these stories enhance language and vocabulary skills, but they also provide the perfect opportunity for children to unwind at the end of a day. So, make your child’s bedtime routine a memorable experience by exploring our collection of dream stories and embarking on enchanting journeys together – where good triumphs over evil, and imagination knows no bounds.

Top 24 Dream Stories for kids to read online:

1. Sandman: The story is about Sandman, who takes a young boy named Hjalmar on different adventures every night while he sleeps. Sandman uses his magic umbrella to ensure that Hjalmar has the most wonderful dreaming adventures, but if he was naughty, then he turns his other umbrella around, and Hjalmar doesn’t dream all night. Each day Sandman tells Hjalmar a different story, taking him on magical journeys through beautiful gardens, fairy tales, boat rides, a mouse wedding, doll weddings, and even meeting Death. The story is available to download as an ebook (PDF).
2. The Milkmaid And Her Pail: The story tells of a milkmaid who was daydreaming about her future plans while walking home with a milk pail balanced on her head. She envisioned selling cream, butter, eggs, and chicks, then buying a lovely dress for the fair where she’d reject all men’s advances. As she tossed her head in pride, the milk pail fell, and she lost everything she had planned and imagined.
3. The lovely moon: A child is reluctant to go to bed, but their mother uses the farm animals and a lovely moon to help soothe them to sleep. The child eventually drifts off to sleep, with the moon shining through their window, while the mother sings a lullaby. The story ends with the child asleep, watched over by the moon and mother.
4. The Magical Sleepover with Bobby: The story is about a little boy named James who is afraid to go to bed every night. Despite his parents’ efforts, nothing helps him get comfortable until one night when the family dog, Bobby, comes to his rescue. In his dream, James and Bobby have an adventure on the moon where they encounter friendly aliens and dodge an asteroid. After this magical dream, James no longer fears going to bed and instead looks forward to more exciting dreams with Bobby. There is also a link to download the ebook version of the story.
5. Johanna’s New Year’s Eve dream of sunny Sydney: A young girl named Johanna becomes fascinated with New Year’s Eve in Sydney after reading a book about it, where it is warm and people wear shorts and swim. She dreams of visiting Sydney for New Year’s Eve to see the fireworks at the Sydney Opera House. Her parents surprise her when she is fourteen by showing her a card saying they will spend New Year’s Eve in Sydney together, fulfilling her dream. Johanna is grateful for her loving parents and is excited to keep saving for another trip to Sydney.
6. The Fever Dream Monster: A young boy named Kai has a terrifying nightmare about a monster chasing him in his house on a dark and stormy night. Kai tries to escape but the monster follows him, until Kai hits it with a frying pan and it disappears. Kai is relieved to wake up and realize that it was just a fever dream caused by his illness. The end. An ebook version of the story is available for download.
7. Dreaming of Dinosaurs: A young boy named Archie visits a dinosaur museum and dreams of going on an adventure with the creatures. He is transported to a world where dinosaurs created a theme park just for him, and he enjoys thrilling rides on the backs of different dinosaurs. Eventually, he encounters a scary Tyrannosaurus rex, which wakes him up in the middle of the night. Despite this, Archie is glad to have had such an incredible adventure and learned so much about dinosaurs, and he realizes that living in a world full of dinosaurs would be very dangerous.
8. The Dream of Little Christel: The story is about a young girl named Christel who learned from a fairy in her dream that even the smallest child could do something to make the world better. She put this into action and helped a crying baby by fixing a nearby windmill and watered a wilted rose tree by filling her hands with water from a nearby brook. Christel was satisfied with her small actions, realizing the power of them. An ebook (PDF) is available for download.
9. Alice in Wonderland: who stole the tarts?: In this story, Alice finds herself in the court of the King and Queen of Hearts, where a trial is taking place against the Knave of Hearts who stole tarts from the Queen. Alice observes the strange characters around her, including the jurors who write on slates and a nervous Hatter who testifies. When the Queen calls for the next witness, Alice is shocked to hear her own name called by the White Rabbit and wonders what will happen next.
10. Alice in Wonderland: Alice on the stand: The story follows Alice as she appears in court for a trial. In her haste, she accidentally turns over the jury box, and disturbs the members of the court. The trial cannot continue until all members are back in their places; everyone returns safely except for the Lizard, whom Alice placed head first. As the trial proceeds, the King reads out some rhyming verses found on a piece of paper and the court tries to make sense of them. Eventually, Alice argues with the Queen, which causes the Queen to yell “Off with her head!” Alice wakes up to find herself lying on a bank with her sister, telling her all about her dream.
11. The Road to Sleepytown: In this story, Little Boy Blue can’t fall asleep alone in his Uncle’s farm house. Fairy Moonbeam appears and takes him on a magical journey through a painting on the wall to Sleepytown. Little boy blue and his friends meet a sleepy old man, a sleepy old windmill, a sleepy stream, and the Sandman. They finally fall asleep and wake up the next morning, but the adventure continues when Little Boy Blue’s Uncle gives him a toy town called Sleepytown. The story ends with Fairy Moonbeam singing, “every child in pajamas is on their way to Sleepytown.”
12. The Ram: In this story, a king becomes angry with his youngest daughter, Miranda, after she gives him a seemingly disrespectful answer. He orders her to be killed but she is saved by guards who warn her of her fate. She then finds solace with a flock of sheep, one of which is a cursed king. The ram and Miranda fall in love, but she breaks her promise to return quickly from attending her sister’s wedding and the ram dies of a broken heart. Miranda later becomes queen, but the joy is dampened by the sad fate that befell her beloved ram.
13. Little Sleepyhead: The story is about a little child who is still sleeping in the morning no matter how many creatures try to wake him up. However, when the sun shines brightly on the child’s face, he finally wakes up and calls for his mother without realising what made him wake up. An ebook download link is available.
14. Princess Miranda and Prince Hero: The story begins on a beautiful green island where the most beautiful princess, Miranda, resides with her ladies-in-waiting. Her beauty attracts many visitors and a city is built for her. However, when the evil king of the Underground Kingdom tries to capture her, she assembles her brave army to fight him, but they are put to sleep by his poisonous breath. The princess remains the only one awake, and the king builds an iron wall around the castle to keep her captive. Meanwhile, a young prince named Hero goes on a mission to save the princess, with the help of an enchanted horse and a self-fighting battle club. When Hero reaches Miranda, they get married as everyone wakes up from their deep sleep.
15. The Dreamer: The story is about a poor couple who live in an old house near a river. The man has a dream in which an old man tells him to go to a bridge and wait for someone who will tell him how to become rich. Despite having the dream three times, the man’s wife suggests he focus on making money rather than chasing impossible dreams. The man eventually goes to the bridge, where a tailor tells him about a dream he had of finding a chest of gold coins under an old apple tree on a plot of land owned by a man named Peter. The man realizes that he is that Peter and finds the gold, becoming wealthy. He goes back to thank the tailor and gives him money for his trouble and lost opportunity.
16. A Midsummer Night’s Dream: In this story, Hermia and Lysander love each other, but her father wants her to marry a different man named Demetrius. The Duke of Athens tells Hermia she has four days to decide, and if she refuses to marry Demetrius, she will die. Lysander suggests they run away to his aunt’s house, but their plan gets complicated when Hermia’s friend Helena tells Demetrius. Meanwhile, the fairy king and queen quarrel and cause mischief with a magical flower that makes people fall in love with the first thing they see. Chaos and mistaken identities ensue in the forest where the four lovers end up. Eventually, everything is restored to order, and the couples live happily ever after.
17. The Giant’s Cliff House: The story is about a blacksmith named Robert Kelly who can interpret dreams. One night he has a dream that a boy named Philip Renardy, who had gone missing seven years ago, had been taken by a giant named Mahon McMahon and is still alive. The boy appears to him on a horse and asks Kelly to rescue him. The boy gives him a sign that it is not just a dream and tells him that there is only one way to reach the giant’s door, which is by sea. When Kelly wakes up, he finds a horseshoe print on his forehead. With the help of a friend, he rows to the giant’s cliff house at midnight and finds the boy amongst many others. He picks him out, and they escape, but Philip never grows very tall, and there is always something strange about him. Kelly becomes famous for his work as a blacksmith and for interpreting dreams.
18. The Rose Elf: The story is about a tiny Rose Elf who lives in a rose in a garden. When the rose closes one night, he can’t get into his home and seeks refuge in a honeysuckle flower next to a garden house with a young couple. He sees the beautiful girl give a rose to the handsome young man, who is murdered by the girl’s Angry brother. The Rose Elf overhears everything and tells the girl in her sleep. The girl leaves the man’s head in a flowerpot with a jasmine branch, and the jasmine mysteriously blooms and fills the air with a sweet scent. The Angry brother sleeps by the flowerpot, and the Flower Souls in the jasmine kill him with invisible, poisonous arrows. The Rose Elf tells the bees, and they ally with the Flower Souls to exact revenge. The story ends with the Bee Queen warning that behind the smallest petal of every rose can live a creature that can tell the story.
19. The Water Nymph in the Pond: A miller promises a Water Nymph that he will give her “something young” that comes into his house in exchange for wealth and happiness. He later realizes the promise applies to his newborn son and is tormented by the thought of losing his child. Years pass, the son grows up to become a hunter and falls in love with a woman. He accidentally washes his hands in the pond and is dragged in by the Water Nymph. The son’s wife grieves and seeks help from an old woman who gives her a series of objects to use during full moons. On the third full moon, the son and his wife are reunited, but they are transformed into a frog and a toad after escaping a flood. They eventually become human again but forget their past. By chance, they meet each other and play a sad tune that unlocks their memories of each other, leading to a happy reunion.
20. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Deadly Poppy Field: In this story, Dorothy and her friends build a raft to cross a river, but get swept downstream by the strong current. The Scarecrow gets left behind on a pole, but they manage to rescue him with the help of a stork. They then walk through a poppy field, which makes them all fall asleep except the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow, who carry Dorothy and Toto away from the flowers. They find the Cowardly Lion, who has also fallen asleep, but is too heavy to carry. They leave him behind and carry on walking to try to find a way to get to the Emerald City.
21. The Piggy Girl: The story is about a little girl named Betty who abhors being clean. She wants to live with the pigs where she can eat and sleep without anyone bothering her. She goes to Mrs. Gleason’s sty every night to live with the pigs and comes back only to steal food from her home. Betty gradually transforms into a pig-girl and forgets her original self. However, as winter comes, she learns that the pigs will be sent to the slaughterhouse and panics, realizing that she could be mistaken for one of them. Betty escapes, and it turns out that her entire adventure was just a dream. She finally embraces cleanliness and decides never to resist a bath again.
22. The Moonlit Lullaby: The story is about a baby bird sleeping in a cozy nest on a beautiful night under the moon’s gentle light. The winds, earth, air, and stars all come together to protect the baby bird while it sleeps, with a great wing from far away fanning its dreams to keep it safe until the morning sun appeared. The story is available for download in PDF format.
23. The Old Oak Tree’s Last Dream: This story is about an old oak tree that is three hundred and sixty-five years old. It talks to a Day-fly that has only one day to live, and despite the tree’s long life, it is envious of the insect’s ability to enjoy life passionately in a short time frame. The oak tree has a dream on Christmas Eve where it experiences the pleasure of reaching for the sun and flies high above all the other trees of the forest. The dream ends when the tree falls during a storm and is told sermon-like eulogy by sailors. The story ends with a hymn of joy and salvation ringing out over the sea.
24. The Sandman’s Sand: In the story, the Moon Man plays hide-and-seek with the little stars and teaches them about the Sandman’s sand, which ensures children sleep well at night. The Moon Man shows the little stars how the fairy Queen and her fairies make the sand for the Sandman, who delivers it to children. The naughty elves steal the sand, replacing it with bad-dream seeds. In the end, the Sandman catches the elves and runs off to find the children still awake, leaving the bad-dream seeds in his bag. The Moon Man teaches the little stars that the children would fall asleep without waking up if they knew everything about the Sandman’s sand.

In conclusion, the Top 24 Dream Stories collection offers children a magical world of adventure, creativity, and valuable lessons that leave a lasting impression. These tales, woven with colorful characters and fantastical scenarios, not only spark young readers’ imaginations, but also encourage them to dream big and explore their own unique potential. Moreover, the underlying morals in these stories serve as essential guides that shape children’s understanding of empathy, bravery, and self-discovery. So, snuggle up and dive into these enchanting tales that transport young minds into the captivating realm of dreams, inspiring the next generation of young dreamers.