Meditation app Calm is delving into a beloved realm of storytelling, launching a multi-year collaboration with the Roald Dahl Story Company, the company dedicated to protecting and uplifting the works of the author.
The collaboration will see the creation of Sleep Stories (Calm’s signature library of bedtime stories) and soundscapes related to the Dahl universe. A mix of bespoke stories and existing extracts from his many works will be offered to members of the app.
Actor Henry Golding, of Crazy Rich Asians fame, is kicking off the partnership with a Sleep Story inspired by Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: the spin-off is titled “Charlie and the Dream Factory”.
Golding says he “grew up reading Roald Dahl”.
“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has forever been one of my favourite children’s stories. So what a treat to be able to narrate ‘Charlie and the Dream Factory’ for Calm,” the actor says in a statement from the app. “There is nothing quite like drifting into a deep sleep as the imagination blossoms.”
Calm already has a wealth of dreamy, celebrity-voiced content to offer its users, with offerings from the likes of Regé-Jean Page, Jonathan Bailey, and Harry Styles, to name a few.
Following Golding’s voyage into the Chocolate Factory, the next title to be explored is Matilda, from which Kirby Howell-Baptiste will narrate an extract. Future Calm x Roald Dahl content will include classics such as The Big Friendly Giant and The Witches.
For lovers of nostalgia, YA books, or just a good Sleep Story, this seems like a fruitful alliance indeed.
