About Story Bell
Story Bell is a children’s storytelling website for free read‑aloud bedtime stories. Kids can follow along with highlighted words, listen to gentle narration, and enjoy smart auto‑scroll on phones, tablets, and desktop — built for calmer nights and better reading.
What features makes Story Bell great for bedtime and early reading
Read‑Along Highlighting
Each word glows in sync with the narrator to guide eyes along the line and support phonics.
Ideal for emergent readers and children who benefit from visual tracking.
- Builds confidence and fluency during bedtime routines.
- Gives caregivers a hands‑free way to support early reading skills.
- Optimised for short 5‑minute bedtime stories.
Listen‑Only Mode
A calm, child‑friendly voice reads the story aloud with highlights turned off.
Perfect for winding down or when you’d like screen‑light to stay minimal.
- Great for car rides or quiet time.
- Mobile‑first playback with playsinline, autoplay, loop, and muted.
- Pairs well with our ‘stories about feelings’ collection.
Favourites & Saved Progress
Tap the star to bookmark stories and return from any device.
Your place is remembered, making stop‑and‑start evenings simpler.
- Quickly build a personal library for your child.
- Syncs across pages that support favourites.
- Helps teachers manage classroom reading picks.
Create Personal Reading Lists
Group stories by theme, age, or duration to plan bedtime or lesson time.
Save separate queues like ‘5‑minute stories’, ‘kindness’, or ‘feelings’.
- Fast access to the right story at the right moment.
- Useful for classrooms and sibling reading sessions.
- Encourages consistent reading habits.
Smart Auto‑Scroll
The page scrolls gently in time with the audio so eyes stay on the right line.
Designed to account for images and different screen sizes.
- Hands‑free reading on mobile.
- Helps maintain focus for young readers.
- Works across short and longer stories.
At the heart of Story Bell is a simple but powerful idea:
As each story is read aloud by our gentle narrator (Story Bell herself), each word lights up in real time, guiding children to follow along with ease and confidence.
This isn’t just charming, it’s designed for learning.
Story Bell helps support:
- ⭐ Early word recognition
- ⭐ Listening and comprehension skills
- ⭐ A joyful, intuitive connection to language and storytelling
Unlike video-based content, our stories promote active reading—not passive watching.
Story Bell is a small family creation, made right here in Ireland.
What began as a bedtime storytelling idea between a parent and two daughters has grown into a mission to share meaningful stories with children and families everywhere.
To open young minds through storytelling.
To create a calm, inspiring space where children can explore, imagine, and grow, one story at a time.
And to make reading feel less like a lesson, and more like a spellbinding adventure.
Stories that speak, words that glow.
Every page of Story Bell is built to support young readers with care, clarity, and a little bit of magic.
