Books about...bedtime
Stories for when we are feeling sleepy (or for when we really should be but are still going 100mph!)
We often read together during the day but bedtime stories are the daily ritual that we never skip. My son gets three books each night which he choses. I usually pull a bundle from the shelves for him to select from (otherwise we run the risk of all three books being about the inner workings of diggers and tractors!). Here are some of our favourite stories about going to bed. These bedtime themed stories are usually the final book we read before lights out.
Here are five of our favourites (I’ve included all these and more in this Bookshop list):
Goodnight, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann is a beautifully illustrated wordless (other than the animal names and sounds) picture book. It’s been fun to read since my son was tiny and now that he’s older he can tell the story of the cheeky gorilla and the zookeeper himself.
Goodnight, everyone by Chris Haughton is a bedtime story packed full of sleepy actions (stretching, yawning, sighing) and a little bear who doesn’t want to go to sleep. We love Chris Haughton’s books with their vivid illustrations and entertaining stories. The pace of this story is perfect for our last book of the evening as we wind down ready for sleep.
Goodnight, goodnight, construction site by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld features a line up of construction vehicles (dump truck, excavator, cement mixer and crane). We love the rhymes about the hardworking vehicles during the day and them falling asleep at night. The trucks with their blankets, night lights and cuddly toys is a cute touch.
Goodnight, Monkey by Joshua George - my Mum picked this book up in a charity shop and it is a stand-out favourite for my son and his cousins. It comes with an attached “magic torch” that you put between the pages to light up the animals hiding throughout this story. So simple but it’s the most requested bedtime book when the boys are with their grandparents and we finally have a copy here in France now.
Goodnight Veggies by Diana Murray and illustrated by Zachariah OHora- I wrote about this wonderful book in this post about food-themed books. It was recommended by friends of ours last year and is an absolute favourite in our house:
Other sleep-themed stories we enjoy include the classic, Goodnight moon, Jill Muphy’s Peace at Last and Whatever Next stories, Where is the Green Sheep by Mem Fox, Charlie and Lola - I’m not sleepy, and I will not go to bed (a recent favourite for my son who has just discovered the BBC cartoon) and Goodnight Tractor Ted based on another cartoon.
I’ll do a separate post of French bedtime books as these are increasingly being chosen here.
I’m also getting inspiration from Can we read’s list of bedtime poetry books and have been adding some of these to our wishlist.
What are the bedtime books on heavy rotation in your family?