At bedtime the little ones are always restless and one way to calm everyone down is a real bedtime book… a book about bedtime, and sleep, and yawning, and… oh, pardon me, I nodded off there for a moment.
Here are five rather excellent and beautiful bedtime stories that you may not know about. (Note: No Goodnight Moon on this list – everyone knows about that one already!) Click on titles for full reviews.
1. Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes – infant+
Simple and funny. Kitten thinks the moon is a bowl of milk.
2. Can’t You Sleep, Little Bear? by Martin Waddell – age 2+
All about getting settled for sleep, starring a very patient parent.
3. The Baby Who Wouldn’t Go to Bed by Helen Cooper – age 2+
Baby wants to keep playing but his toys are sleepy.
4. One Snowy Night by Nick Butterworth – age 3+
Very funny. All the animals in the park are looking for a warm place to sleep, so they descend on the park-keeper’s little house.
5. The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson – age 3+
Dreamy and gorgeous. A girl imagines she is flying over the countryside at night, all the way to the planets and stars.
And, what the heck, here’s a bonus, one I haven’t reviewed on this blog but that we’ve read and listened to countless times:
Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book by Dr. Seuss – age 2+
A chronicle of all manner of creatures going to bed – yawners, sleepwalkers, sleeptalkers, snorers and dreamers. It’s a little long, but brilliant in its pacing, gradually slowing and mellowing until the final “Good night.” We have a fantastic CD version of it which we’d listen to while following along in the book. The narration, music and fx are terrific and the sound of all those yawns will definitely get you and your toddler yawning too. (Here’s the link to the CD on amazon.)
Goodnight!
Les Misérables
Rarest Kind of Best 