Hey, kids, and welcome to the TV Tropes page for Kid Time Storytime! Pictured: Hooty, Abuela Bear, Maleficent, Doug, Curious George, Corny, Gilles, Minnie Mouse, Red Bear, and Two-Tone.
Kid Time Storytime
is a YouTube channel where a woman named Eileen (who goes by "Storyteller") reads children's books.It's like a normal kids' story channel, but with two differences. One is that Storyteller sometimes interrupts the stories to comment on them, and another is that before, after, and sometimes during a story, Storyteller has conversations with a group of toys.
Each toy is given its own name and personality, and there are quite a few, including Doug the dragon/dinosaur hybrid, the bears Red Bear, Pink Bear, Green Bear, and Abuela Bear, Maleficent (later Witcheficent), Two-Tone the cat, Hooty the owl, and Corny the unicorn.
The official website can be viewed here.
Please note: The examples refer to tropes about the channel itself or the conversations with the toys, not the books being read.
Kid Time Storytime provides examples of:
- Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal:
- In the reading of Dinosaur Vs the Potty, Doug the dragon/dinosaur hybrid is wearing a cowboy hat and bandanna.
- The bears wear bows around their necks.
- Accidental Aesop: In-Universe — The Scariest Story You've Ever Heard doesn't seem to have a moral, but in the reading, Eileen/Storyteller finds two morals anyway (since two boys heard noises they thought were a monster, but it was their father stumbling around in the dark trying to get ice cream): our imaginations can be scarier than reality, and always turn the light on when getting a midnight snack.
- Action Girl: While she's never seen, the Bear brothers' mother is apparently a secret agent.
- Alliterative Name: There's Fuchsia Fish and Random Rooster.
- Alternative Character Interpretation: It occasionally has In-Universe examples, where characters speculate on the behaviour of the story characters:
- In the reading of Aliens Took My Daughter, they speculate that the girl really was replaced by an alien, instead of the canon situation of that being a mistake on her father's part.
- In the reading of The Grouchy Ladybug, Eileen/Storyteller thinks that the eponymous ladybug backing out of the fights with progressively larger animals and saying, "Oh, you're not big enough!" was actually too scared to fight and making an excuse, whereas Witcheficent thought that she sincerely just wanted to fight a bigger animal.
- In the reading of He Came with the Couch, Eileen wonders if the guy who came with the couch deliberately chose the chair that had a woman in it at the end.
- In the reading of Sand Between My Toes, they speculate on why a baby cries as he and his parents evacuate a beach due to a storm. Doug wonders if the baby is scared, while Green Bear wonders if he just doesn't want to leave the beach, not minding the rain as he and his parents are already wet from swimming. Storyteller thinks it's probably both.
- In the reading of Never Let a Unicorn Meet a Reindeer, Eileen/Storyteller thinks the unicorn and reindeer end up making friends, while Witcheficent thinks they only called a temporary truce because it was Christmas.
- In the video reading I Need My Monster, Fushia Fish thinks that Gabe was just bluffing about the fish being scared of him to boost his ego.
- In the reading of The Candy Cane Fiasco, Witcheficent thinks the grandmother left her granddaughter stuck to the Christmas tree for no reason, but Abuela Bear thinks she did it to get peace and quiet.
- In the reading
- Always Camp: Olivia is a hammy actress, tying into the stereotype that actresses are always hammy.
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: Green Bear, Red Bear, and Pink Bear are exactly what you'd expect.
- Ambiguously Absent Parent: Fuchsia Fish's dad is never mentioned despite her mom being an offscreen regular character.
- Ambiguous Situation: In the video for The Bear Ate Your Sandwich, Eileen's actual sandwich is missing, and she's wondering if what happened to her sandwich, also happened to that of the girl in the story (which was eaten by either the eponymous bear, or the dog narrator). However, the Bear brothers claim that the story is true but "bear colours and names have been changed to protect the innocent and possibly the guilty", and are quick to point the finger at the dog, suggesting that one or both of them stole it. Abuela Bear knows what really happened, but she doesn't say.
- Anthropomorphic Food: Dill is a talking pickle.
- Assuming the Audience's Age: Eileen, also known as Storyteller, the woman who runs the channel, always addresses the viewer as "kid".
- Breath Weapon: An aversion for Doug; he expressly says he cannot breathe fire due to being half-dinosaur.
- Brown Note: Parodied in the reading of Once Upon a Zzz, when Hooty and Corny fall asleep before they can read the title, while Maleficent doesn't. She claims it's "black magic", but it isn't.
- Captain Obvious Reveal: In-Universe — In the video for It's Okay to Be a Unicorn, Storyteller says that she saw the twist of Cornelius secretly being a unicorn coming a mile away (but she still liked the book for its Prejudice Aesop).
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Random Rooster and especially Dill are known for being extremely eccentric. Dill, for instance, has two names and jokes about being a carrot, while Random Rooster's main shtick is that his actions are completely arbitrary.
- Color Character: There's Green Bear, Red Bear, Pink Bear, White Rat, Gray Rat, and Fuchsia Fish.
- Comedic Work, Serious Scene:
- The scenes before and after the readings are usually jokes involving Eileen (aka Storyteller) and her puppets/toys having silly conversations. However, after the reading of The Jester Who Lost His Jingle, Eileen turns dead serious and tells the audience about how the book's author died of cancer.
- The video reading Dodos are Not Extinct, They're Just in Disguise is mostly just as comical as the other videos, but at the end, Eileen turns serious and notes that some extinct animals died out due to human intervention. She then adds that while some humans don't care about animals, she does, and she hopes her viewers do to.
- Cool Old Lady: Abuela Bear is very popular among the younger animals because of her cheerful personality and her cooking.
- The Cynic: Maleficent is the complainer of the group, often being the only one to say something negative about a book, describing a book as too negative, etc.
- Disease-Prevention Aesop: During the Covid-19 pandemic, the channel made a video reading of Germs Make Me Sick in order to spread awareness about diseases and how not to transmit them. In addition, a song about washing hands, called "Washa Washa Washa", was made around the same time that directly mentioned the pandemic.
- Disappeared Dad: The Bear brothers' father is never seen because he is a secret agent.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Pink Bear has been mistaken for a girl several times because he's pink and wears a bow.
- Funny Animal: The teddy bear family are depicted as talking and bipedal, and they're bears.
- Gratuitous French: Gilles the giraffe will often insert French words in his everyday speech.
- Gratuitous Spanish: Abuela Bear is quite fluent in Spanish, given that she hails from Cuba (according to the official website).
- Jobless Parent Drama: Played with for the reading of Daddy Lost His Job where Doug thinks that his daddy has lost his job and they will be homeless. Eileen/Storyteller says that it was the daddy in the book who lost his job, not Doug's dad, and the family in the story could cope.
- Large Ham: Olivia and Witcheficent are very dramatic, Olivia due to her theatrical nature and Witcheficent due to her loud complaining.
- A Lizard Named "Liz": Several characters have punny names about their species, such as Corny the unicorn and Hooty the owl.
- Living Toys: The toy characters are referred to as "puppets" even in-universe, which could indicate that they're sentient toys in-universe.
- Missing Mom: The Bear brothers' mother (who is also the daughter of Abuela Bear) is never seen because she is a secret agent.
- No Indoor Voice: Random Rooster is known for being quite loud.
- Not a Morning Person: According to the video for Welcome to Morningtown, Olivia the Ostrich sleeps late because she stays up late.
- Owls Ask "Who?": Hooty only speaks in "hoo"s, which is sometimes treated like he's asking, "Who?".
- Pink Means Feminine: Discussed in the video for Pink Is For Boys, when Pink Bear talks about how people make the assumption that he's a girl because he's pink.
- Playing Sick: In the video for Bear Feels Sick, Red Bear pretends to be sick so he can get chocolate.
- Potty Failure: In the video for the Dinosaur Vs book "Dinosaur vs. the Potty", Doug remembers wetting his pants as a little kid and feels bad about it.
- The Prankster: The Bear brothers are often seen pulling pranks, especially Green Bear. For instance, in the reading of The Bear Feels Sick, Red Bear pretends to be sick to get some chocolate, and in How to Trick the Tooth Fairy, the brothers have done every trick in the book for tricking the tooth fairy.
- Pun: The autumn playlist is called "Autumn Stories to 'Fall' For".
- Put on a Bus: Perry stopped appearing after retiring to Florida.
- Prone to Tears: Doug is said to be very sensitive and cries easily, both when he's sad and when he's happy.
- Rhyming Wizardry: In the reading of I Want to Be Big, every time the boy changes size, someone says a rhyming spell just before the story gets to that part. First Witcheficent says, '"Badda bing, badda boom, make his body take up more room," then she says, "Badda bing, badda boom, make his body take up even more room," then Eileen/Storyteller says, "Badda bing, badda broom, make his body take up less room."
- Running Gag:
- Whenever the title of the story involves not doing something that Storyteller must do in order to read the story (such as open the book or read the book), Doug will worry about it.
- Witcheficent calling Green Bear "Green Thing", and insisting on calling him that even when he corrects her.
- Witcheficent complaining that the story isn't dark enough.
- Gilles's polyamorous relationship.
- Characters reacting badly to stories that throw shade on their species (like Gilles in Giraffes Ruin Everything and Two Tone in Belling the Cat).
- Green Bear wanting to be President.
- Whenever the story features Toilet Humour, Eileen will act over-the-top disgusted, but Green Bear will find it hilarious.
- Tibby calling the viewers, or other characters, "bon-bons" or otherwise implying he wants to eat them.
- Whenever a book has a "this book belongs to", Storyteller will sing, "You! And me! and the Kid Time family!".
- Batticus Finch declaring something illegal.
- Witcheficent eating bats (often making them into a stew).
- Eileen coming across something unpleasant in a book, and almost giving up reading it, but claiming she has no choice but to read it anyway due to the "Storyteller Creed".
- Santa Claus: The channel has a whole playlist of "Santa Claus stories".
- Shout-Out:
- In the video for The Lying King, Green Bear thinks they're going to be reading The Lion King (1994).
- Batticus Finch was named after Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird.
- In one of the videos for the What Should Danny Do? books, Eileen reads the words "let it go" to the tune of the song from Frozen (2013).
- In the video reading a book adaptation of the song Singin' in the Rain, Olivia points out that that's also the name of a movie.
- Shrinking Violet: Doug's main trait is that he's very shy and easily scared.
- Sick Episode: In the video for Dragons Get Colds, Too, Doug has a cold.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: Storyteller translates Hooty's hoots and Two-Tone's meows.
- Species Subversives: While the Rat brothers, White Rat and Gray Rat, do play some stereotypes of rats straight (they like cheese and live in New York), they invert You Dirty Rat!, being very friendly and sociable.
- Speech-Impaired Animal: While Two-Tone mainly just meows, in the reading of "Belling the Cat", he says, "That was the end?!" in a meowy voice.
- Supreme Chef: Abuela Bear is well-known amongst the toys for her cooking, mainly baked goods.
- Sweet Tooth:
- All three Bear brothers love cookies, candy, chocolate, etc.
- Corny's favourite food is cupcakes.
- Threatening Shark: Tibby often expresses desire to eat the viewers or the other characters.
- Title Reading Gag:
- In the video for P is for Poop, Storyteller is shocked at the title and acts coy about saying the word "poop".
- In the video for A Children's Book About Lying, Green Bear says, "Uh-oh!" when he reads the title, since he fears he's been caught in a lie.
- In the video reading Daddy Lost His Job, Doug reads the title and freaks out, thinking that his father lost his job.
- In the video for Little Good Wolf, characters are surprised by the inversion of Big Bad Wolf — Green Bear says, "That's not right" in a deadpan way, Doug gets nervous, Witcheficent calls it "blasphemy" and "not even a real book", and Fernando Fox just says a Rapid-Fire "No!".
- In the video for Baby's First Jailbreak, Doug reads the title and then begs Storyteller not to read the book, since not only is it wrong to be in jail in the first place since it requires lawbreaking, breaking out is doubly wrong, so it's "breaking too many rules".
- In the video for Giraffes Ruin Everything, Storyteller says, "Uh-oh!" upon reading the title, knowing that Gilles (a giraffe) will be offended, and sure enough, he is.
- In the video for Mary Had a Little Lab, Fuchia Fish misreads the title as Mary Had a Little Lamb and sings the Nursery Rhyme.
- In the video reading Goodnight Lab, a parody of Goodnight Moon, Doug, upon seeing the title, gasps dramatically and yells, "WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MOON?!".
- In the video for the Dinosaur Vs book "Dinosaur vs. the Potty", Doug is unhappy when he reads the title, since mentioning the potty (especially in relation to a dinosaur, since he's half-dinosaur) brings back embarrassing memories of his own toddlerhood when he was being potty trained.
- When Doug sees the title in the video for Dragons Get Colds Too, he wonders how it's even possible... despite being half-dragon and suffering a cold himself.
- In the video covering Pink is for Boys, Pink Bear is glad to see the title, since after being mistaken for a girl so many times just because he's pink, he's pleased someone knows that pink can be for boys too.
- In the video about the Rotten Ralph book "The Nine Lives of Rotten Ralph", Maleficent is excited to see the title, because she thinks the book is about death.
- When Gilles reads the title in the video for the Little Princess book "I Don't Want to Go to the Hospital", he says, "Well, Little Princess, here's a clue: no one does."
- In the video for Aliens Took My Daughter, Perry takes the title as evidence that Alien Abduction exists.
- In the video reading the Aesop's Fables story "Belling the Cat", Two Tone meows in intrigue upon seeing the title has the word "cat" in it.
- In the video for A Thousand No's, Green Bear, upon seeing the title, yells, "But I don't like no's!".
- In the video reading Pencils on Strike, when they read the title, Green Bear and Doug are shocked at the idea of pencils being on strike.
- In the video for Finn's Little Fibs, Witcheficent is happy when she reads the title, since she thinks it's for learning how to lie. It turns out to be the opposite.
- In the video about The Grouchy Ladybug, Witcheficent is happy to hear a story with "grouchy" in the title, since she's grouchy herself.
- In the video
- Trademark Favourite Food: Witcheficent's love for bat stew is a running gag.
- Unexpectedly Dark Episode: Generally, the series remains light-hearted even when reading dark books, but occasionally, there is a darker video:
- In the one for I Will Always Love You, the toys don't feature.
- In the one for The Jester Has Lost His Jingle, Eileen/Storyteller mentions that the author died young due to cancer, but stayed optimistic his whole life.
- In the ones about A Little Spot of Anxiety and Germs Make Me Sick, the Covid-19 pandemic is mentioned.
- In the one for A Little Spot of Courage, Doug is sad about a man being killed by a policeman, spiking "bad things", which is implied to be about the George Floyd incident.
- In the one for Saturdays Are For Stella, Eileen/Storyteller can't help but become quite sad when George learns that his grandmother Stella died, because it reminds her of when she also lost a grandparent whom she was very close to as a child.
- Unicorn: One of the toys is a unicorn (i.e. horse with a single horn) puppet named Corny.
- Vague Age:
- Olivia is cagey about her age, but she seems to be an adult since she's an actress.
- Gilles is an adult, but it's unknown his exact age. Storyteller reckons he's about thirty-five.
- Hooty is apparently a little kid, but he can already fly.
- Very Special Episode:
- Germs Make Me Sick and A Little Spot of Anxiety were read in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
- A Little Spot of Courage was read in response to the George Floyd protests (to help kids deal with hearing bad news).
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Green Bear and Curious George are sometimes seen bickering and sometimes seen pulling pranks together.
