Goodnight, Everyone: Books for Bedtime

Reading before bedtime is a wonderful way to wind down after a long day: cuddling close over a book and talking a little bit before settling down to sleep. The books don’t have to be sleep-themed, of course, but here are a bunch that are:

Classic bedtime books

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
Llama, Llama, Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney
Time for Bed by Mom Fox

Amusing

How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? by Jane Yolen
I Don’t Want to Go to Sleep! by Dev Petty
Good Night, Mr. Panda by Steve Antony
Everyone Sleeps by Marcellus Hall
Goodnight Already! by Jory John
Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! by Mo Willems

Role Reversal

How to Put Your Parents to Bed by Mylisa Larsen
Beep! Beep! Go to Sleep! by Todd Tarpley
The World Champion of Staying Awake by Sean Taylor
Monster Needs His Sleep by Paul Czajak
If Your Monster Won’t Go to Bed by Denise Vega and Zachariah Ohora

Animals and the World

Goodnight, Everyone by Chris Haughton
Sleep Like A Tiger by Mary Logue and Pamela Zagarenski
Sleep Tight Farm by Eugenie Doyle
A Book of Sleep by Il Sung Na
A Parade of Elephants by Kevin Henkes
All the Awake Animals Are Almost Asleep by Crescent Dragonwagon

Gentle/Sweet

City Moon by Rachael Cole
You and Me, Little Bear by Martin Waddell
Goodnight, I Love You by Caroline Jayne Church
Time for Bed, Sleepyheads by Norman Chartier
Grandfather Twilight by Barbara Berger
Sweet Dreams, Little Bear by Tim Warnes

Cars and Trucks

Twinkle Twinkle Little Car by Kate Dopirak
Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker

Not Specifically Sleep Themed, But Good for Bedtime

I Love You As Big As the World by David Van Buren
Mommy Hugs/Daddy Dreams/Mommy Snuggles by Anne Gutman
You Are My I Love You by Maryann Cusiano Love
Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
Where the Wild Things Are -and- In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
Beekle by Dan Santat
Henry & Leo by Pamela Zagarenski
A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip Stead and Erin Stead

Note: Reading at bedtime might not work for every family. Babies, especially, might be too fussy in the evening to be able to focus on looking at pictures or listening to a story (though there are some board books that have song lyrics as the words, like What A Wonderful World and Baby Beluga, so those are worth a try). Read to/with kids at whatever time(s) of day work best for them and for you; in our house, we read at the table, as well as between meals, and before bed. There’s no wrong time to read (unless that time is “never”).

What are your favorite bedtime books?