THE PERFECT NIGHTTIME READ - DESIGNED TO CALM YOUR MIND FOR A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP *Introduced by Lucy Mangan* Recommended by RED magazine * 'Dreamy' STYLIST 'Calm and restore an anxious mind before sleep... the most beautiful book that will, without a doubt, put you in the mood for some ZZZZs.' THE SUN Tales to soothe tired souls. A nighttime companion for frazzled adults, including calming stories and poems for a good night's sleep. This cheering book of best loved short tales, extracts and poems will calm and restore an anxious mind. Sleep is essential for our well being and our health, but in our busy lives it is often poor and overlooked. Now is the time to put down your smartphone, stop a while and find consolation and wonder in other worlds where all is well and sleep just a page or two away. From classic stories by Oscar Wilde, Guy de Maupassant and Katherine Mansfield, to friendly tales of our childhoods and poetry that reminds us of the simple joys of life, this lovingly curated book will soothe a tired mind and gently carry you to the peaceful land of sleep. So switch off, snuggle down and allow yourself to escape into new worlds and old; magical, mysterious and tender realms that will accompany you to your own sweet dreams. 'Hurrah for a book that draws us away from the cold blue light of the smart phone and into the soothing glow of poems, short stories and extracts' THE SIMPLE THINGS PICKED FOR WORLD BOOK NIGHT 2020

Bedtime Stories for Grown-ups is a collection of 20 bedtime stories for adults from the 'Dan Jones Hypnosis' YouTube channel. The bedtime stories have been created in a way that encourages sleep and promotes wellbeing, helping with stress, anxiety and worry, three of the main areas behind many sleep problems, so, these bedtime stories are ideal for stressed out adults or those who find they worry or overthink when they should be falling asleep. These sleep stories for adults can be read by the person who wants to fall asleep, or read to someone to help them fall asleep, or audio recorded for personal use to help you fall asleep. Each bedtime story is a transcript of a 20-35 minute long hypnotic healing bedtime story. For most of human history storytelling helped people to share knowledge and wisdom while inspiring change and creativity. Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of verbal hypnosis. Stories stimulate and access the dreaming brain allowing people to update their neurology with new learning to change thinking, behaviours and responses to life events. Somewhere along the way storytelling became associated with children, it was seen as odd if you were an adult who said you liked listening to stories. This has now started to change, adults listening to stories and reading bedtime stories is on the rise. Dan Jones has over 20 years experience using storytelling as a form of therapy and to help people sleep, he also has a successful YouTube channel 'Dan Jones Hypnosis' with over 100 hypnotic healing bedtime stories for adults and over 20 sleep stories for children.

Soothing stories to help you fall and stay asleep, based on the popular podcast Busy minds need a place to rest. Whether you find yourself struggling to sleep, awake in the middle of the night, or even just anxious as you move through the day, in Nothing Much Happens, Kathryn Nicolai offers a healthy way to ease the mind before bed: through the timeless appeal of classic bedtime stories. Already beloved by millions of podcast listeners, the stories in Nothing Much Happens explore and expose small sweet moments of joy and relaxation: Sneaking lilacs from an abandoned farm in the spring. Watching fireflies from the deck in the summer. Visiting the local cider mill in the autumn. Watching the tree lighting in the park with friends in the winter. You'll also find sixteen new stories never before featured on the podcast, along with whimsical illustrations, recipes, and meditations. Using her decades of experience as a meditation and yoga teacher, Kathryn Nicolai creates a world for you to slip into, one rich in sensory experience that quietly teaches mindfulness and self-compassion, soothes frayed nerves, and builds solid habits for nurturing sleep. A PENGUIN LIFE TITLE

There are few more precious routines than that of the bedtime story. So why do we discard this invaluable ritual as grown-ups to the detriment of our well-being and good health? In this groundbreaking anthology, Ben Holden, editor of the bestselling Poems That Make Grown Men Cry, challenges how we think about life, a third of which is spent asleep. He deftly explores not only the science of sleep but also why we endlessly tell stories – even to ourselves, as we dream. Holden combines his own illuminating storytelling with a treasure trove of timeless classics and contemporary gems. Poems and short stories, fairy tales and fables, reveries and nocturnes – from William Shakespeare to Haruki Murakami, Charles Dickens to Roald Dahl, Rabindranath Tagore to Nora Ephron, Vladimir Nabokov to Neil Gaiman – are all woven together to replicate the journey of a single night’s sleep. Some of today’s greatest storytellers reveal their choice of the ideal grown-up bedtime story: writers such as Margaret Drabble, Ken Follett, Tessa Hadley, Robert Macfarlane, Patrick Ness, Tony Robinson and Warsan Shire. Fold away your laptop and shut down your mobile phone. Curl up and crash out with the ultimate bedside book, one you’ll return to again and again. Full of laughter and tears, moonlight and magic, Bedtime Stories for Grown-ups joyfully provides the dream way to end the day – and begin the night . . .

»A Descent into the Maelström« is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, originally published in 1841. EDGAR ALLAN POE was born in Boston in 1809. After brief stints in academia and the military, he began working as a literary critic and author. He made his debut with the novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket in 1838, but it was in his short stories that Poe's peculiar style truly flourished. He died in Baltimore in 1849.

A retelling of the Norse sagas about Odin, Freya, Thor, Loki, and the other gods and goddesses who lived in Asgard before the dawn of history.

Get ready for bed with this soothing sleepy story—now available as a Classic Board Book! The sun has set, and sleepyheads all across the land are tucked into their cozy beds. Rabbit is snoozing in the weeds, and Duck is snuggled in the reeds. Bear is nestled in his cave, and Otter is rocking on a wave. But there’s one little sleepyhead who’s not in his bed. Where, oh where, could he be? This sweet and snuggly bedtime book with irresistible illustrations by Joyce Wan is the perfect read-aloud story to prepare little ones for a cozy night’s sleep.

"A Scandal in Bohemia" is the first short story, and the third overall work, featuring Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. It is the first of the 56 Holmes short stories written by Doyle and the first of 38 Sherlock Holmes works illustrated by Sidney Paget. The story is notable for introducing the character of Irene Adler, who is one of the most notable female characters in the Sherlock Holmes series, despite appearing in only one story. Doyle ranked "A Scandal in Bohemia" fifth in his list of his twelve favourite Holmes stories. "A Scandal in Bohemia" was first published on 25 June 1891 in the July issue of The Strand Magazine, and was the first of the stories collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes in 1892. Famous works of the author Arthur Conan Doyle's: "A Study in Scarlet", "Silver Blaze", "The Yellow Face", "A Scandal in Bohemia", "The Red-Headed League", A Case of Identity", "The Boscombe Valley Mystery", "The Five Orange Pips", "The Man with the Twisted Lip", "The Blue Carbuncle", "The Speckled Band", "The Engineer's Thumb", "The Noble Bachelor", "The Beryl Coronet", "The Copper Beeches" and many more.

Once upon a time, artist Scott Gustafson set out to illustrate classic stories, fairy tales, and nursery rhymes. Decades later, his immediately recognizable paintings have made bestsellers of Peter Pan,The Night Before Christmas, Classic Fairy Tales, and Favorite Nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose. Now he gives us Classic Bedtime Stories, a lavishly illustrated, oversized collection of some of his favorite tales. Stories such as “Sleeping Beauty,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” and “Sambha and the Tigers” leap off the page thanks to Gustafson’s exquisite paintings and lively retelling of these classics. “The Lion and the Mouse” and “The Country Mouse and the City Mouse” demonstrate his talent at creating uncanny anthropomorphic characters who keep us smiling even as they teach us about tolerance, diversity, and the Golden Rule. A book that even adults will enjoy reading aloud again and again, Classic Bedtime Stories will keep youngsters of all ages engaged for hours. Gustafson’s unique style makes this a volume to be cherished by children, parents, and grandparents for generations to come.

Bedtime will now be a time of magical fairies, mischievous elves, wicked witches and talking animals! Enter a wondrous land of fantasy and fun.