Monthly Archives: September 2020
Calming Bedtime Storybooks for Children
In my experience, bedtime stories are the best part of the bedtime routine.
I remember, as a young teen, looking after my toddler-aged nephew while my sister worked evenings.
After my mom gave him a bath, he would charge into the living room in his PJs and head straight to where I was sitting, usually with some book or another. I would set aside whatever I was reading as he climbed into my lap so I could read him a bedtime story.
Sometimes I got tired of reading him the same story night after night, but I never got tired of the experience.
When I became a mom, bedtime stories were naturally part of the bedtime routine. Sometimes I would tell stories, sometimes I would sing to my kids, but invariably, I always went back to reading aloud from some storybook or another.
Why Read Bedtime Stories to Your Child
The stories you choose to read with your child at bedtime will depend on their interests, their age, and how much time you have to read together.
But don’t skip this part of the bedtime routine.
Yes, brushing teeth and taking a bath and putting on pajamas are all important. And no, you probably can’t skip finding the right stuffed animal, giving them that last drink of water, or answering yet another question about how the world works and why.
But after you finish all of that, make sure you take the time to read a bedtime story.
Reading aloud to your child each night can:
- Boost your child’s relaxation and wellbeing
- Help your child to learn
- Stimulate your child’s imagination and listening skills
- Boost parent-child bonding
- Encourage independent reading and a love for books
12 Bedtime Storybooks to Read to Your Child
While older children often enjoy listening to you read a chapter each night of a longer book, younger children often like to finish a single storybook in one go.
These 12 recommended storybooks center on bedtime. They’re perfect for helping your child relax, calm down, and get ready to fall asleep.
Night Night, Pumpkin
In Night Night, Pumpkin by Amy Parker, and illustrated by Virginia Allyn, the story follows an animal character in a pumpkin costume as they say goodnight to the things they encounter on a fall day. A perfect bedtime story for the fall time of year. Featuring rhyming text and paired with charming artwork that is appealing to children ages 3 to 5 years. Night Night, Pumpkin could be a fun back-to-school gift for preschoolers and kindergarteners, a sweet Halloween or Thanksgiving reading treat, or simply a new bedtime book to enjoy as the leaves change. Little ones will love snuggling into a fall evening as they say “night night” to a day of colorful adventures. |
Night Night, Sleepytown BoardbookBy Amy Parker / Thomas Nelson Say thank you and good night to farmers, doctors, teachers, firefighters, and God, who takes care of us all. Your little ones will sleep soundly, feeling safe and loved. Night Night, Sleepytown features rhyming text and charming artwork that readers have come to know and love, of fun scenes of a bustling town preparing to say good night. Recommended for ages 3 to 5 years. |
Join bestselling author Amy Parker and award-winning illustrator Virginia Allyn in the latest Night Night adventure through Sleepytown, where community helpers work hard so everyone can rest!
Night Night, FarmBy Amy Parker / Thomas Nelson Moo moo, cows! Baa baa, sheep! When the sun sinks low down on the farm, the animals are all tuckered out from the day’s adventures. Join these adorable farm animals in pajamas as they say “night night” to the farm, to their mommies and daddies, and to God. Your little ones will sleep until the rooster crows knowing that the God who made them loves them too. Rhyming verse, calming artwork, and whimsical renditions of favorite farm animals in their snuggly beds will make this bedtime book a favorite for years to come. |
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Night Night, ZooBy A From tuckered out elephants to dozing zebras, your little wild one will love the colorful art of cute animals settling in for bedtime. The zoo theme features fun and exciting illustrations of wild animals, inviting your children to say “Night night!” to each animal and to the loving God who made them. Night Night, Zoo is perfect for bedtime as children say a sleepy goodnight to all the zoo animals they love. Padded board book, recommended for ages 3 to 5 years. |
How to Get a Mommy to Sleep
Mommies and their little ones will laugh out loud as this role-reversal bedtime, reminding kids to “start early” when it comes to getting a mommy ready for bed and to always remember to say your prayers before sleep, no matter how long it takes. Filled with bright illustrations and a delightful text, this book is sure to become a bedtime favorite. Recommended for ages 4 to 8 years. |
How to Get a Daddy to Sleep
Written from a child’s point of view, this story follows a little girl as she and her dad have a spectacular and exhausting day together. When bedtime rolls around, Daddy will have no problem getting to sleep! Recommended for ages 4 to 8 years. |
The Bedtime Book
This beautifully illustrated picture book pairs sleepy-time text with Mary’s beloved art. From endearing poems and snuggly stories to sweet blessings and precious prayers, each page features a way for you to read your little one to sweet dreams and sleep. Board book edition; recommended for ages 0 to 4 years. |
Really Woolly 5-Minute Bedtime Treasury
With a simple 5 minute format, the Really Woolly 5-Minute Bedtime Treasury will allow you to spend quality time with your children before they drift off to sleep and won’t leave you exhausted when they beg for just one more story. Its soft, sweet rhymes and Bible verses, paired with soothing illustrations, makes bedtime an uncomplicated process. |
Night Night Bible Stories
Along with vibrant illustrations of cuddly creatures, best-selling author Parker offers 30 biblical bedtime stories from the Old and New Testaments, including “When the World Was Made,” “An Angel Visits Mary,” “Jesus Lives!” and more. Ages 3 to 7. |
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Night Night Devotions
Designed for children ages 3 to 7 years, this book features 100 devotions, each beginning with a Bible verse and includes Night Night questions to encourage interaction with young children. If readers want to use the book as a companion to Night Night Bible Stories, the devotions have corresponding titles that accompany each Bible story, with much more in between! |
Hello, Little Dreamer
Best-selling author Gifford reminds your 4- to 8-year-olds that the Lord has been making plans for them since before they were born–and each dream adds to the beautiful picture of who they are becoming. 32 pages, 10″ x 10″ hardcover from Nelson. |
The Berenstain Bears My Bedtime Book of Poems and Prayers
Easy to read and easy to remember, this collection of prayers and poems is written especially for little ones ages 4 to 8 years. From butterflies and tadpoles to parades and rainstorms, readers will celebrate the day-to-day joy that can be found in their own lives as they settle down to go to sleep. |
[Note, the book links above are affiliate links, which means I receive a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you purchase the books by using the links from Christianbook.com. Thank you for your support by using the links if you choose any of these bedtime storybooks to read with your kids before bed.]
In Honor of Labor Day, a Thank You to Parents
Labor Day falls within a week of my daughter’s birthday, sometimes on the day itself. This year, on September first, my daughter turned 16, and just like that, I have become the mother of a sixteen-year-old teenager.
But as much as it feels like this milestone has snuck up on me, I guess it wasn’t “just like that” after all. Sixteen years of motherhood have come between that day I first held my baby in my arms and today … when I find myself the mother of two teens (16 and 14) and the youngest, 11, who it seems is catching up fast with his siblings.
Sixteen years, or 192 months, or roughly 5,840 days as a mother … meaning, days of labor. Because let’s face it, parenting is work. It’s hard work. It’s time-consuming work. At the same time, it is fulfilling work.
It is labor that parents generally would not trade for anything else.
Yet on this day, Labor Day, when we honor the labor of the working force of past and present, let’s also honor the unseen and unpaid labor of mothers and fathers. The years and months, the seasons and days, of so many activities that go into raising a child.
Waking up to a crying baby and walking, shushing, singing her back to sleep, night after night.
Holding two little hands that grasp tightly to yours while those first steps are taken.
The honor, the labor, of raising a child.
Kissing foreheads goodbye when you have to go to work, even though you would rather stay home with your little one.
Or making a life out of making a home, out of laundry and dishes and cooking and homework, of listening to your child’s stories when they return from school.
The honor, the labor, of raising a child.
Chasing down the “I’m not tired” and “I don’t want to go to sleep” for brushing teeth and taking baths and turning down the covers and climbing into bed.
Singing the lullabies or telling the stories (or, if you’re like me, cheating by reading stories because you just can’t think them up off the top of your head) tucking them in and kissing them goodnight one last time.
Day after day after day.
And this year, due to COVID-19, many parents are facing up close more than ever before the labor of day-to-day motherhood and fatherhood. I saw a meme that perfectly encapsulates parenting during this time (photo by Laurika Claasen, posted to the Facebook group “Parents in Quarantine”).
In addition to personally dealing with the physical and financial and mental/emotional challenges during the coronavirus pandemic, parents have the double task of helping their kids and teens deal with the same.
Hopefully, for the most part, we’ve tried to do so positively and with some imagination. However, we’ve likely all had days (and perhaps weeks) when the thing we most look forward to when we wake up in the morning is crawling into bed at night or for a quick nap midday.
Today is Labor Day
… a day to honor laborers of all kinds … the cashiers and mail carriers, the stockers, the baristas, the janitors, the firefighters and teachers and construction workers.
And the parents, whose unseen and unsung labor is day by day raising the workers and the world-changers of tomorrow.
I came across this quote about parenting by one of my favorite authors, Frederick Buechner. I love the quote because it rings true about not just the joy of parenting but the shadows of it as well … the shadows of one’s own childhood that all to often turn into the shadows we carry into our own parenting.
And yet, regardless of the mistakes and the shadows, this place where we stand—as mothers, as fathers—is a place where we might want to take off our shoes from time to time … to understand that these children and teens—their hearts and souls—are holy ground.
And sometimes, what we might need to do is understand the same of our own heart and soul—to honor the role and the burden, to tread lightly, and not to feel guilty if we need a nap every once in a while (or every day, as the case may be).
“HONOR YOUR FATHER and your mother,” says the Fifth Commandment (Exodus 20:12). Honor them for having taken care of you before you were old enough to take care of yourself. Honor them for the sacrifices they made on your behalf, including the ones you would have kept them from making if you’d had the chance. Honor them for having loved you.
But how do you honor them when, well-intentioned as they may have been, they made terrible mistakes with you that have shadowed your life ever since? How do you honor them when, far from loving you or taking care of you, they literally or otherwise abandoned you?
The answer seems to be that you are to honor them even so. Honor them for the pain that made them what they were and kept them from being what they might otherwise have become. Honor them because there were times when, even at their worst, they were doing the best they knew how to do.
Honor them for the roles they were appointed to play—father and mother—because even when they played them abominably or didn’t play them at all, the roles themselves are holy. Honor them because, however unthinkingly or irresponsibly, they gave you your life.
-Originally published in Wishful Thinking: A Theological Lexicon and later in Beyond Words: Daily Readings in the ABC’s of Faith.
Parents, may you find rest and joy this Labor Day.
[Image by © LWA-Dann Tardif/zefa/Corbis]
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