Her Royal Highness, who has been a vocal advocate of mental health services and initiatives, will read children’s picture book, The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson. to mark Children’s Mental Health Week.

Children’s Mental Health Week runs from February 7-14th and the Duchess chose the book because it chimed with this year’s theme of “growing together”.

Plop, the Baby Barn Owl, is like every Barn Owl there ever was, except for one thing – he is afraid of the dark. “Dark is nasty” he says and so he won’t go hunting with his parents.

Mrs Barn Owl sends him down from his nest-hole to ask about the dark and he meets a little boy waiting for the fireworks to begin, an old lady, a scout out camping, a girl who tells him about Father Christmas, a man with a telescope and a black cat who takes him exploring. He realizes that through these encounters that dark is super after all.

Filled with gentle humour and comfort, Jill Tomlinson’s animal stories have been enjoyed by children who want to snuggle down with a good read for decades. This edition of The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark is beautifully illustrated by Paul Howard.

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Bedtime Stories with HRH Duchess of Cambridge on CBeebies is sure to be a hit, and she is the latest in a long line of famous faces taking the hot seat.

Parents and kids have previously enjoyed stories read by Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon, Tom Hardy, Idina Menzel, David Schwimmer, Rosamund Pike, Eddie Redmayne, Orlando Bloom, Ryan Reynolds, Felicity Jones, Chris Evans, Regé-Jean Page and astronaut Tim Peake who read from space!

“Bedtime Stories” is on the CBeebies channel at 6:50pm every Monday to Friday, and will also be available through BBC iPlayer.

HRH Duchess of Cambridge’s episode will air on Sunday 13th February at 6.50pm.