The Storytime Pro theme includes a recent posts widget to display the most recent posts with thumbnails. The thumbnails are automatically generated from the featured image you upload for the post(s).

screenshot for the Storytime recent posts widget settings
  1. Go to Appearance > Widgets
  2. Drag the Storytime Recent Posts widget into the sidebar position you want to show it in.
  3. Enter the number of posts to display
  4. Click the Save button

No Thumbnail?

If your post does not have a featured image, a placeholder thumbnail will take its place:

screenshot showing an image replacement for the recent posts widget - when no thumbnail available