Sue Johnston - Kipper's Toybox CBeebies Bedtime Stories

One, two, three...

four, five, six.

Perfect! Everyone's here.

Hello. I'm Sue.

I'm counting my toys to make sure

they're all ready for tonight's Bedtime Story.

Would you like to hear it?

Great! It's called Kipper's Toybox, and it's by Mick Inkpen.

Someone or something had been nibbling a hole in Kipper's toybox.

"I hope my toys are safe," said Kipper.

He emptied them out and counted them.

"One, two, three,

"four, five, six,

"seven."

That's wrong," he said. "There should only be six."

Kipper counted his toys again.

This time, he lined them up to make it easier.

"Big Owl, one.

"Hippopotamus, two.

"Sock Thing, three.

"Slipper, four.

"Rabbit, five.

"Mr Snake, six.

"Oh. That's better," he said.

Kipper put his toys back in the toybox, then he counted them

once more just to make sure.

"One, two, three,

"four, five, six,

"seven...

"eight noses.

"That's two too many noses!" said Kipper.

Kipper grabbed Big Owl and threw him out of the toybox.

"One," he said, crossly.

Out went Hippopotamus. "Two!"

Out went Rabbit. "Three!"

Out went Mr Snake. "Four!"

Out went Slipper. "Five!"

But where was six? Where was Sock Thing?

Kipper was upset.

Next to Rabbit, Sock Thing was his favourite, and now he was gone.

"I won't lose any more of you," said Kipper.

He picked up the rest of his toys and put them in his basket.

Then he climbed in and kept watch until bedtime.

That night, Kipper was woken by a strange noise.

It was coming from the corner of the room.

Kipper turned on the light.

There, wriggling across the floor,

was Sock Thing!

It must have been Sock Thing who had been eating his toybox.

Kipper was not sure what to do.

None of his toys had ever come to life before.

He jumped back in his basket and hid behind Big Owl.

Sock Thing wriggled slowly round in a circle

and bumped into the basket.

Then he began to wriggle back the way he had come.

He did not seem to know where he was going.

Kipper followed.

Quickly, Kipper grabbed him by the nose.

Sock Thing squeaked and wriggled harder.

Then a little tail appeared.

A little, pink tail.

And a little voice said, "Don't hurt him!"

"So it was you!

"You've been making the hole in my toybox," said Kipper.

It was true.

The mice had been nibbling pieces of Kipper's toybox

to make their nest.

"You must promise not to nibble it again," said Kipper.

"We promise," said the mice.

In return, Kipper let the mice share his basket.

It was much cosier than a nest made of cardboard,

and the two little mice never nibbled Kipper's toybox again.

But their babies did.

They nibbled EVERYTHING.

That story was called Kipper's Toybox.

Kipper had a few more friends than he expected, didn't he?

But I'm sure he didn't mind sharing his cosy basket with all of them.

Now it's time for you to get tucked up, because it's your bedtime.

I'll see you again very soon. Night-night.