Perfect Bedtime Reads

Another great tip for getting to sleep: reading to or with your child before bed. It's a great way to transition from day to night. So, we rounded up some of our favorite bedtime reads- the kind that have it all- beautiful illustrations, sweet stories, and most importantly, words that will lull your little ones right to sleep.

First Row:

• 1 I Took the Moon for a Walk by Carolyn Curtis

• 2 Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

• 3 The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton

• 4 Time for Bed by Mem Fox

• 5 Hushabye by John Burningham

Second Row:

• 6 Where the WIld Things Are by Maurice Sendak

• 7 Goodnight, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann

• 8 Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

• 9 Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go to Sleep by Joyce Dunbar

• 10 If Kisses Were Colors by Janet Lawler

Comments (12)

These are all great great choices we love. Goodnight Moon is magic.

My son loved "Happy Birthday Moon" by Frank Asch for bedtime reading when he was really little.

Here's a tip: make up the story of how mommy and daddy met, the day your child was born, etc etc etc...you can even get it self published with your own photos or illustrations or drawings your kids have done and publish through one of the sites like mac.com or lulu.com and then read it to your child every night. Emulate kid's books so you keep it age appropriate without talking down to them. Kids LOVE hearing about themselves.
:)

i took the moon for a walk is absolutely one of our favs. anything from barefoot is great esp when alison jay illustrates. my daughter stares at the pages for hours!

We love Zen Shorts and Zen Ties by Jon Muth. We also like the Bear Books by Karma Wilson. My son's favorite book right now is Bad Case of the Stripes by David Shannon (who also has loads of other books that we love).
We always read 3 books to each child then we tell a story to our oldest. The story always revolves around him- he picks the location and activity, we build the story around it. Lately I have been tying in Harry Potter and making him a wizard- making up a new story every single night is hard after a while, it helps when I can borrow!

I did a self-published book for my daughter, and it was a huge hit. It was an alphabet book with photos for each letter, and they were all things that my daughter knew and loved--the beach near our home, her toys, insects we found on the playground, and animals from the zoo. It's falling apart since she would sleep with it for a while. Also, it's fun to look back on the things she loved as a two year old.

Love Goodnight Gorilla! Look for the balloon--it's on every page, somewhere, I promise!

Also look in the neighbors' windows. Then read "10 Minutes to Bedtime!" to find out what's going on in one of those houses.

There is nothing better than cuddling up with your little one and a book at bedtime. Delicious!

Oh how happy i am to see this post!
I Took The Moon For A Walk is one of our favorite books, as well as Listen,Listen by the same artist.
We don't have a television at home so we read non stop, bedtime is actually looked forward to by my son because he gets to pick 3 books at nite.

I actually am an independent seller for the company that carries the featured title. We carry a ton of childrens books loaded with art that is equally appealing to kids and adults.
Indie Barefoot Books is worth checking out if you would like childrens books that are focused on art, health, culture and diversty. Soy/vegetable based inks and ancient forest friendly too!

This is a great list and there are some new titles I don't know yet. We read GoodNight Gorilla nightly for almost a year. He was also fond of Happy Birthday Moon, which another post named. Right now, it is Busytown, Busytown and more Busytown!

A second vote for Karma Wilson- my daughter particularly loves Bear Snores On. And Madeline! Good Night Moon is amazing- works like a sedative when she's been bouncing off the walls since dinner.

I, too, am lucky enough to be a representative for Barefoot books, the independent publisher of I Took the Moon For a Walk. The artwork is incredible! Alison Jay rocks!