The Sums That Came Right by E. Nesbit — A Calming Bedtime Story for Sleep & Insomnia | Books at Bedtime
Drift off to sleep with The Sums That Came Right by E. Nesbit, a gentle and funny Edwardian fairy tale read aloud by Martin Hewlett on Books at Bedtime, the sleep story series from Calming Anxiety.
Edwin can't see the point of lessons. Seeds turn into flowers and dinner stops you being hungry, but sums never lead to anything. Then one afternoon, with his head inside his school desk, he finds the Arithmetic Fairy glowing at the back of it, in a dress woven of integral calculus and trimmed with logarithms.
From that day on, every sum Edwin gets right comes true at home. A sum about white rabbits leaves 7,563 of them in the front garden. Apples fill the cellar, oranges climb the stairs, and elephants arrive. Then a sum about a leaking cistern turns the staircase into Niagara, and Edwin has to find a way to call the fairy back and ask her to undo her gift.
What follows is a tender ending about growing up, about what learning gives us and what it can't, and about a rose garden and the Love Fairy.
This classic bedtime story for adults is perfect for winding down, easing insomnia and letting a busy mind settle into deep, restful sleep. Calm narration, gentle humour and a soft, unhurried pace make it an ideal sleep audiobook for anyone who finds it hard to switch off at night.
If you enjoy E. Nesbit, the author of The Railway Children and Five Children and It, you'll find more of her short stories on Books at Bedtime, including The White Cat, The Related Muff, The Aunt and Amabel, JustNowLand, The Magician's Heart and The Twopenny Spell.
The Sums That Came Right was first published in Oswald Bastable and Others (1905). E. Nesbit (1858–1924) and this story are in the public domain.
Hosted by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett.
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Sleep well, my friend. And in everything, be kind.
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