Table of Contents: All Bedtime Stories
Barbara, the Green Sheep
Based on the Nursery Rhyme Baa Baa Black Sheep
Listen to the Bedtime Story Barbara, the Green Sheep, based around our arrangement of the Nursery Rhyme Baa Baa Black Sheep. Here you can listen to excerpts of all stories (narrated by Peter Bradbury). You can read along with every story online on our website or you can download all story texts and soundtracks individually (MP3 + PDF). In addition, all 20 stories are available together as an illustrated eBook with audio included (our full package download).
All Bedtime Stories (based on Nursery Rhymes)
Good Night Story based on Baa Baa Black Sheep
(Story 10 of 20)
Baa Baa Black Sheep
Barbara, the Green Sheep
In a land far away from here all the sheep are green. Imagine that, all the sheep are green, and all their wool is green and all the people in that land have to wear green cardigans and green jumpers and green socks. One day a little lamb was born called Barbara. Imagine how shocked its mummy was when she saw that the little lamb wasn’t green! What colour was it? It was white, as white as snow, so white in fact one wonders just how much more white it could have possibly been.
Well, you might think that’s not the worst colour for a sheep to be. But in a land where all the sheep are green it is remarkable! Of course all the other sheep around had never seen a white sheep before and they started to laugh and giggle when they saw the poor little white lamb.
Barbara’s mum was very sad. Of course she loved her little lamb, no matter what colour it was, but the other sheep were really unkind and they made jokes about the little white lamb. When Barbara grew older things became very difficult, she couldn’t find any friends, and none of the other sheep wanted to play with a sheep that looked, well … different.
So one day when Barbara had grown into a little white sheep she decided to leave home. She walked for many days but no matter where she went, all the sheep, all the people she met laughed at the colour of her woolly coat.
After five long days the little sheep was really tired, really hungry and so, so sad. Then she met an old lady. “Little sheep, where are you going? And what are you doing?” asked the old lady.
Barbara sighed. “I am the wrong colour,” the sheep replied. “Can’t you see that I’m as white as snow? So I have been travelling all over to find a place where I can call home.”
“But that’s a wonderful colour, I love your white coat,” the old lady replied. “Would you mind giving me some of your wonderfully white wool? And I can give you some food and lovely tasty milk and you can sleep in my shed.”
“But my wool is white,” the little sheep cried, “it‘s no good for cardigans or jumpers or socks.” “No, no, no! I think that it could make a beautiful cardigan,” the old lady said, “just come with me and I will show you.”
The little sheep followed her and was very pleased to get some food and milk and a comfortable place to sleep in the old lady’s shed.
All music taken from
The Nursery Rhyme Collection
Volumes 1 - 8
The next day the old lady sheared the sheep. Barbara felt a bit cold at first without her white woolen coat but the haircut didn’t hurt at all. The old lady made yarn from Barbara’s wool and then she started knitting a gorgeous cardigan as white as snow. “How beautiful!” the old lady exclaimed. Barbara liked the cardigan very much and was very happy to see what the old lady had created from her wool.
The next day the old lady went to market to sell the white cardigan. When she returned she had a great smile on her face. “Everybody I met at the market wanted to buy the white garment and I sold it for 12 shiny coins!” Barbara was very proud.
The old lady was very kind and made Barbara very happy. They talked every evening. The old lady would tell stories about her life. But after some time Barbara realised that she felt lonely. Even though the old lady was a kind friend she longed for another sheep to play with. One day the lady returned from the marketplace she brought another sheep! It was a black sheep and they became great friends. The new sheep was called Baa Baa.
So from that day onwards the old lady travelled to market to sell white cardigans, black cardigans, white cardigans with black stripes and black cardigans with white clouds and she became famous and known in many lands. Of course the old lady always shared all the coins with the two sheep who lived together happily ever after.
Song:
Baa baa black sheep
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full
One for the master and
One for the dame
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane
© 2015, written by Mike Wilbury
