Monthly Special
Bedtime Stories

The books recommended below were published within the last several years. Grade levels are only suggestions; the individual child is the real criterion.

And If the Moon Could Talk written by Kate Banks, illustrated by Georg Hallensleben (Foster/Farrar)
Evoking the powerful bedtime magic of Goodnight Moon, this pair’s third collaboration conveys the theme of a great and wondrous world while never sacrificing the comfort and security of parental love. Grade level: Preschool. 32 pages.

Seven Stories written and illustrated by Ed Briant (Porter/Roaring Brook)
A girl in an apartment building recounts a wakeful night peopled with fairy-tale characters apparently suggested by the seven books stacked by her bed. Grade level: K–3. 32 pages.

Hushabye written and illustrated by John Burningham (Knopf)
In friendly collages and lilting stanzas that always end with the refrain “Hushabye,” Burningham creates various tired animal characters finding their rest. Grade level: Preschool. 32 pages.

A Good Night Walk written and illustrated by Elisha Cooper (Orchard/Scholastic)
Spare, poetic text and loose sketches convey the peaceful details of a pre-bedtime walk around the block. Grade level: Preschool. 40 pages.

Night Driving written by John Coy, illustrated by Peter McCarty (Holt)
Dad and son take a nighttime road trip across the prairie to the mountains in this perfect bedtime-beckoning for would-be roamers seemingly set in the 1950s. Grade level: K–3. 32 pages.

Every Single Night written by Dominique Demers, illustrated by Nicolas Debon (Groundwood)
A dreamy, lyrical, and cozy portrayal of a bedtime ritual wherein a father describes creatures all over the world (including the world of magic) falling asleep. Grade level: Preschool. 40 pages.

Lights Out written and illustrated by Arthur Geisert (Lorraine/Houghton)
A pig who needs the light on to fall asleep rigs an inventive low-tech chain reaction so that he can do so and still have his light off at eight as his parents request. Grade level: K–3. 32 pages.

Asleep, Asleep written by Mirra Ginsburg, illustrated by Nancy Tafuri (Greenwillow)
The sleepy litany of a toddler fighting one more bedtime is softly answered by her mother in this dreamily illustrated mood poem. Grade level: Preschool. 24 pages.

Sleepy Cadillac: A Bedtime Drive written and illustrated by Thatcher Hurd (HarperCollins)
The titular car floats up to “your” window and through the dusky air, over city, country, and sea, then up to the moon in this litany of the familiar sure to lull little drivers contentedly to sleep. Grade level: Preschool. 32 pages.

Hush!: A Thai Lullaby written by Minfong Ho, illustrated by Holly Meade (Scholastic)
A Thai mother hushes a series of animals that disturb the silence as she tries to put her baby to sleep. Grade level: K–3. 32 pages.

Clara and Asha written and illustrated by Eric Rohmann (Roaring Brook)
Clara has dreamlike adventures just before sleep with her imaginary friend Asha, a whale-size flying fish. Grade level: Preschool. 40 pages.

Good Night, Good Knight written by Shelley Moore Thomas, illustrated by Jennifer Plecas (Dutton)
Three dragons call a knight to request, in turn, water, a bedtime story, and a lullaby in this easy reader. Grade level: K–3. 48 pages.

Sleep Tight, Little Bear written by Martin Waddell, illustrated by Barbara Firth (Candlewick)
Little Bear turns a tiny cave into his own home, but when bedtime comes, he returns to see if Big Bear misses him. Grade level: Preschool. 32 pages.

More lists of Recommended Books