If you are looking for a fun bedtime ritual for you and your children, reading to your kids is a great option. Reading is not only good for them educationally, but this time together is a great time to bond with your child too. Of course, there are many different bedtime stories out there to choose from. Which ones should you choose to add to your children’s library? Here is a look at some great bedtime stories for kids and a look at the stories they tell and lessons that they teach.
Bedtime Stories for Kids
Table of Contents
The Going to Bed Book
One of the best bedtime stories for kids, this book by Sandra Boynton deals with bedtime routines. The animals in the book take a bath, put on their pajamas, and brush their teeth getting ready for bed. It’s a great story that will help your child learn about bedtime routines and going to sleep at night.
Goodnight Moon
This book by Margaret Wise Brown is another excellent bedtime story to read to your kids at night. The rabbit in the story says goodnight to the moon, air, stars, and everything else in the room. It’s great for teaching kids to prepare for going to bed.
Guess How Much I Love You
An adorable story by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram, this is about a Little Nutbrown Hare that is trying to find ways to tell his father about how much he loves him. The trick is that he really is trying to put bedtime off a bit. This story will help you show your child how much you love them at the end of a busy day.
Moon Rabbit
The Little Rabbit is captivating in this tale by Natalie Russell as she tries to find if there is another person like her. It teaches friendship among people, even if they are not like you, since Little Rabbit finds the Brown Rabbit and they become the best of friends, even though they are different.
Good Night, Gorilla
A humorous story by Peggy Rathmann, this bedtime story will have kids laughing as they see the zookeeper in the story go through the zoo telling all the animals good night. The twist is that the gorilla in the book gets the keys and lets the animals all out. They follow the zookeeper to his home, and soon the lights go out, and everyone says goodnight.
Goodnight Lulu
About a small chick, this book by Paulette Bogan is a great bedtime read. It deals with monsters in the night and is filled with endless questions from Lulu to her mom about monsters. A great book to deal with the fear many kids have of the dark and monsters.
Tell Me Something Happy Before I go to Sleep
In this book by Joyce Dunbar, little Willa isn’t able to go to sleep because she is scared she’ll have a bad dream. So she asks Willoughby, her brother, to tell her about something that is happy. This wonderful book teaches kids that morning will come soon and that there is happiness and joy waiting for them. It also helps kids get over the fear of having a bad dream at night.
Harold and the Purple Crayon
Crockett Johnson is the author if this book about Harold. Harold takes a walk one evening, taking the purple crayon along with him and drawing out exciting adventures. In the end, he draws the window to his bedroom and a bed, then goes to sleep. In this bedtime story, kids learn about using their imagination and the exciting adventures it can provide.
The Boy Who Wouldn’t Go to Bed
Sometimes kids don’t want to go to bed, especially during the summer, which is the topic of this book by Helen Cooper. The boy in the book didn’t want to go to bed and wanted to stay up all night long. However, the world around him goes to sleep. This book will tire out your child and make them realize that even when they don’t feel like going to sleep, the world needs to rest and sleep is important.
Animal Sleepyheads 1 to 10
This cute bedtime story by Joanna Cole is a rhyming story that teaching counting. Kids count the animals that are sleeping happily, teaching the numbers 1 through 10. It will also help to lull your child into a nice sleep as well.
Good Night
By Elizabeth Coatsworth, this story for bedtime talks about the sun setting and a special start in the sky that watches the entire world as it goes to sleep. The story is a cheerful one that talks about the nightly ritual that becomes familiar to a child. At the end of this story, there is a special surprise as well that kids will enjoy.
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Half a Moon and One Whole Star
Kids often wonder what goes on at night and this story by Crescent Dragonwagon talks about this. It talks about how some people wake up and some go to sleep. The story about Susan talks about the world during the night, and it’s a soothing story that will have kids dreaming in no time.
Time for Bed
This book by Mem Fox and Jane Dyer is full of watercolor pictures that are calming and beautiful. It has words that rhyme, which will lilt kids to sleep, while teaching them about the baby animals that cuddle up and snuggle with their moms at bedtime.
Where the Wild Things Are
This old classic by Maurice Sendak is for kids of any age. The journey in the dark teaches kids about loving and taming the monsters, which will keep kids from being scared of the “monsters under the bed.”
Time to Say Goodnight
By Sally Lloyd-Jones, this bedtime story talks about sleepy animals in the forest and meadow, teaching kids about animals and how they go to sleep, as well as about those that are nocturnal and wake up at this time. A fun way to teach kids to say goodnight.
Sometimes I Like to Curl Up in a Ball
Written by Vicki Churchill and Charles Fuge, this book happens to be a tale about Little Wombat. At the end of the day he loves trying to find a great place to curl up with mom for a nap. It teaches kids that there is a time for fun and play, but a time to curl up and go to sleep too.
Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late
A funny book by Mo Willems, this book is about a pigeon that is yawning. The hilarious book will have kids laughing and in a great mood for bedtime, which is perfect when you are putting your kids to bed.
Goodnight Me
You’ll find this book by Andrew Daddo to be a perfect bedtime story for younger kids, teaching them how to come up with their own bedtime ritual. The story is about an orangutan that says goodnight in many different ways and then eventually goes to sleep.
Counting Kisses
This book by Karen Katz is all about kisses, on “tiny toes” and on the sleepy head. This bedtime story will make kids feel loved and cuddles, and is a great one for babies and toddlers at bedtime.
Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book
By Dr. Seuss himself, this book talks about the sleepy resident in the Country of Keck. The main character is always yawning and the rhyme and rhythm that you have come to expect from Seuss will have your child yawning too. The book encourages sleep and imagination.
To Sleep with the Angels
This is a bedtime book that is by H. Elizabeth Collins. It talks about bedtime prayers and is a book that can make kids feel very secure when they go to sleep. The little girl in the story dreams of angels and is about a special dreamland adventure that happens to feature all kinds of angels.
Can’t You Sleep, Little Bear?
Barbara Firth is the author of this charming book about a little bear. Little Bear is scared of the dark and he can’t go to sleep. Big Bear helps to settle down Little Bear and calms his fears. A wonderful read for kids who are scared of the dark. By the end of the book they’ll feel more secure about going to sleep, even with the lights off.
I Love You, Mouse
Although this title by John Graham was out of print for some time, it is now available again and is a great bedtime story for kids. The little boy in the story talks to all the animals that he loves, including a puppy, bunny, lamb, and kitten. At dark his father puts him to bed and he founds out how much is father loves him. A great bedtime story that teaches kids about the love their parents have for them.
How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?
A book about dinosaurs by Jane Yolen, this is a great book for toddlers, preschoolers, and young school age children. It has a cute story about dinosaurs and how they go to bed at night and the ways that they say goodnight. The pictures are great too and it is a rhyming book that will teach your kids about even more ways to say goodnight and get ready for bed.
Of course, there are many other great bedtime stories out there that you can purchase and read to your kids at night. However, these are some of the best books out there. Consider purchasing one, or several of them, so you can have them at home to read to your child. Then start your own bedtime ritual with your kids. Enjoy those moments at the end of the day when you read them a bedtime story and watch them fade off into dreamland.
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