Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes - The Lion Inside CBeebies Bedtime Stories

CBeebies Bedtime Story.

Hello, and welcome to the jungle.

-My name is Mark.

-And my name is Sam.

And we're going to read you a bedtime story,

-all about a little mouse.

-And a big lion.

The story is called The Lion Inside

and it's by Rachel Bright and illustrated by Jim Field.

In a dry, dusty place, where the sand sparkled gold

stood a mighty, flat rock all craggy and old.

And under that rock in a tiny full house

lived the littlest, quietest, meekest brown mouse.

He was so very tiny, so incredibly small,

that nobody noticed him, ever, at all.

-"Hello. Ouch."

-He got trod on and sat on and missed out for stuff,

-ignored and forgotten.

-"Ouch!"

-Yes, mouse life was tough.

Meanwhile, far above, on top of the rock,

times were quite different - it was lion o'clock!

This huge toothsome creature made sure everyone saw how

important he was by how loud he could

ROAR!

He was head of the pack, he was shouty and tough,

he loved showing the crowd he was made of strong stuff.

Yes, all were impressed by this mighty king cat.

-"If only..."

-thought mouse...

"..I could be more like that."

Then, late one dark night, in his mini-mouse bed,

the cleverest thought popped into his head.

He jumped from the covers and held up a paw.

-"I've got it,"

-he said...

"What I need is a roar. Roar!"

I mean, what if this mouse with the weeniest squeak

was a little more grrr and a little less meek?

Well, he'd still be the smallest of fuzzy brown mice

but he'd make friends and join in and life would be nice.

-"Yes,"

-thought the mouse...

"I must find out how, I will learn how to roar

"and I will learn it now."

But...mmm...

Oh, my gosh, there was only one beast who could teach him

this thing,

but might make him a feast.

It was time to be strong, take a chance, after all,

forever was such a long time to feel small.

So he made himself brave and thought like a winner.

He set off for the top, hoping not to be dinner.

It felt like the scariest thing he could do

but if you want things to change, you first have to change you.

The further he climbed, the closer he got to the slumbering lion

reclining on top.

LION SNORES

Then at last, as he stood on his tippity-toes

he found himself suddenly nose to nose.

HE COUGHS

"Pardon me, wake up, Mr Lion, you've got company.

"Erm, squeak, Mr Lion, what I've come to you for is, squeak,

"do you think you could teach me your roar?"

A silence befell that twinkling plain.

Lion opened his eyes and puffed out his mane.

Time slowed right down, it felt like a week.

Then he opened his mouth and let out a...

"Eeeeeeek!"

The lion was shaking, his paws all a-fumble.

He was backing away with a scrambling tumble.

"Don't hurt me!" he whimpered,

"Oh, try to be nice."

Well, my goodness, this lion was frightened of mice.

"Don't worry," mouse peeped, "I'm a friend, not a foe.

"Let's rock this together, we'll have fun, don't you know?"

That was a magical moment for sure, when mouse didn't feel at all

small any more. He had found his true voice

and learned to speak out.

And for that, you don't need to roar or shout.

And from that day and always, the two were a pair.

They both liked that rock better, now the rock was to share.

The mouse, while still little, felt big in his head.

And lion still roared, but with laughter instead.

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Yes, that day they both learned that no matter your size,

-we all have a mouse

-and

-a lion inside.

Oh, I loved that story, what a brave little mouse.

Very brave. And now I know that even lions are scared sometimes.

True. We'll join you again soon for another story.

But now it's time to head off to bed and rest your head.

You're a poet and you didn't know it. Night-night.