Zara and the Sock Goblin
Bright Bloomer Bedtime Stories
Ages 2 to 4 · About 2 minutes
A funny short bedtime story for toddlers ages 2 to 4. Zara outsmarts a silly sock puppet while matching colors, sorting pairs, and getting ready for bed.
Zara found a green face in the laundry basket.
It had button eyes and orange yarn hair.
“Hello!” it squeaked. “I am the Sock Goblin. I eat matching socks.”
Zara spotted Mama’s hand inside the puppet.
“You are a very silly sock,” she said.
The goblin bowed and fell backward into a towel.
A muffled voice called, “That was on purpose!”
The goblin offered Zara a red sock and a blue sock.
“A perfect pair!”
Zara shook her head.
“One red. One blue.”
The goblin looked at them upside down.
“Still different!” it cried.
Zara found another red sock.
“Red with red.”
Mama made the puppet gasp.
“A sock detective! My greatest opponent!”
Zara laughed and searched the basket again.
Soon there were pairs across the rug.
Blue with blue.
Yellow with yellow.
Big socks together. Little socks together.
The goblin tried to wear a sock as a hat.
“That is not your head size,” Zara said.
“It is my thinking hat.”
Zara pulled on her own matching socks.
One foot. Then the other.
The goblin applauded by folding itself in half.
At bedtime, Zara put the pairs in their basket.
Mama laid the puppet on a chair.
“Good night, Sock Goblin.”
“Good night, Sock Detective,” Mama squeaked.
Zara climbed beneath her quilt.
Her toes were warm. The basket was tidy.
Nobody was eating any socks.
From the chair came one last whisper.
“Tomorrow I shall investigate hats.”
Zara giggled softly.
Then she closed her sleepy eyes.
A little discovery for tomorrow
Find two pairs of socks. Can your child match them by color, pattern, or size? Let the sock puppet make a funny mistake.