An Elephant Bedtime Story: The Teacup Table

This elephant bedtime story follows Emmy and Mouse as they rearrange a tea party to fit both guests. Read the complete original story below, followed by a small idea for telling it together.

The Teacup Table

Emmy the elephant had been invited to a tea party inside a hollow stump. The invitation was written on a leaf no bigger than her ear tip. She read it twice and chose her smallest hat.

At the stump, Mouse opened a round door. Behind him stood a round table, two round stools and a teapot shaped like a pear. Everything smelled of toasted oats.

Emmy put one eye to the doorway. "It looks lovely."

"Come in," said Mouse. Then he looked at Emmy properly. "Oh."

Emmy tried sitting outside and reaching her trunk through the window. She could lift the teacup, but she could not see Mouse while she drank. Mouse tried sitting on the windowsill. His stool tipped backward and he stepped down again before the cup could spill.

"I measured the cake," he said. "I forgot to measure the guest."

Emmy took off her smallest hat. It was still larger than Mouse's whole table. For a moment they listened to the teapot lid ticking as it cooled.

Then Mouse carried one stool outside. Emmy found a smooth place beside the roots and sat down. But now the stool was so low that Mouse disappeared behind her knee. He called hello from somewhere near her ankle, which made them both laugh.

They fetched two broad cushions from Emmy's garden cart. Mouse set his stool on one cushion. Emmy leaned against the other. The round table came outside, followed by the pear teapot and a plate with six oat cakes.

Mouse poured tea into his cup. For Emmy he fetched the little mixing bowl. "This one has no handle," he warned.

"That will be all right," she said, curling her trunk around it.

Mouse offered a teaspoon. Emmy used its tip to stir, very carefully. He watched the tiny spoon travel around the bowl like a rowing boat on a pond. Then Emmy held the plate while Mouse chose a cake with a particularly round raisin.

They talked about hats. They talked about the sound rain made on the stump roof. When a breeze lifted the invitation leaf, Emmy caught it against her knee.

After tea, Mouse washed the bowl and Emmy dried it with a corner of her handkerchief. The cushions stayed beneath the tree. On the invitation Mouse added a small note: "Next time, please come straight to the roots."

Make this telling your own

Let your child choose the tiny cakes or name the elephant. If the contrast in sizes is funny to them, pause at the teaspoon and let the picture settle. The solution depends on everyone sitting comfortably, so keep the cushions in a shorter version. A real tea-party retelling can use empty cups and pretend food on a table or floor.

Day2Tale creates personalized, narrated stories.

Sources: Day2Tale support and product features