Picture-book stories for teachers: circle time, feelings and science
Luna’s stories are short, illustrated and built around one clear theme each, from starting school and saying sorry to why the Moon changes shape. You can try one on your class screen right now: the opening of “The Floating Ship”, a science story about why ships float, is free on this website.
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How can I use Luna stories in class?
Read the stories from Luna on a tablet with a small group, page by page, like a big book. Each one runs 2 to 6 minutes, has one theme and comes with discussion questions on its theme page. To try the format on a class screen first, open the free sample of “The Floating Ship” on this website.
A note on projecting: to protect the illustrations, Luna blocks screen recording and mirroring, so the app isn’t designed for a projector. These stories are a good start:
The Rabbit and the Turtle, The Lying Sheep, The Ant and Responsibility
How do I run a good story discussion with young children?
Ask before, during and after. Before: “What do you think this story is about?” During: pause on a picture and ask what a character feels. After: connect it to their lives with “Has that ever happened to you?” Keep it to two or three questions so the story stays a story.
This is the idea behind dialogic reading, where the adult prompts and the child becomes the storyteller. Our read-aloud guide explains the prompts. Illustrated stories are a good format for it: in brain-imaging work, pictures supported preschoolers’ understanding without doing all the imagining for them (Hutton et al., 2020).
A note to send home about bedtime
Many teachers see tired children on Monday mornings. Here is a short, neutral note you can copy into a newsletter or class app. It sticks to what the evidence supports and doesn’t mention Luna.
Dear families,
This term we are talking about bedtime stories. Researchers have found that children sleep better with a consistent bedtime routine, and that a picture book a day adds up to about 290,000 extra words by kindergarten.
One simple idea for this week: make the last activity of the day a story you read together (a print book, a library book or a story app you read aloud). Ten minutes is enough, and asking "what happens next?" makes it even better.
Sources: Mindell et al., Sleep, 2015; Logan et al., Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 2019.
Thank you!
The app includes free stories, and the sample of “The Floating Ship” on this website is free to show on a class screen. Please don’t download or redistribute the illustrations.
What ages are the stories for?
Ages 2–8. The website shows the long version; the app also has a short version for ages 2–5.
Can I suggest a theme?
Please do. Use “Email us” in the Luna app to tell us the topics your class needs.
Bedtime stories for every family in your class
Luna gives you a library of illustrated bedtime stories where your child is the hero. Free stories are included and work offline.
