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The Children’s Book Review | March 12, 2020
There are so many different ways to coax a smile out of a child. Sometimes it’s sharing a funny moment, sometimes it’s getting to delight in a favorite thing, and sometimes it’s the contentedness of gratitude. No matter what brings a smile to your young reader’s face, I think we can all agree that a smile before drifting off to sleep while counting sheep is the most delightful way to end a day. The five bedtime stories featured in this list are sure to produce smiles for a myriad of different reasons that are unique to each author and illustrator’s style. Peaceful smiles and laugh-induced smiles are sure to appear!
Written by Raven Howell
Illustrated by David Barrow
Falling asleep can feel stressful at times, especially when the mind begins to overthink. A Flock of Fun takes this stress away by poking fun and creating a lighthearted view of the situation. Whipped together with bouncy rhyme, award-winning poet Raven Howell, in conjunction with illustrator David Barrow, brings humorous life to the age-old adage of counting sheep. The illustrations add comical life with adorable little lambs (especially the ones in underpants) and snails with their slimy trails covering the walls and his bed. The purply hues are just right for conveying the brightness of the night created by the glowing moon. This picture book is a fun choice for a stress-free bedtime story! Read our complete review »
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Ages 3-7 | Publisher: Doodle and Peck Publishing | February 2, 2020 | ISBN-13: 978-1733717083
Written by HSH Prince Alexi Lubomirski and Sons
Having a heart full of gratitude is a sure way to fall asleep with a smile. Thank You For My Dreams: Bedtime Prayers of Gratitude is filled with so many kid-friendly and relatable things to be thankful for, while also fostering a calming connectedness to those we love and the world around us. This particular prayer is especially fitting: “Thank you for bedtime stories when we spend time with Mommy and Daddy and they tell us cool stories about trains or dragons or funny mice.”
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Ages 5+ | Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing | May 7, 2019 | ISBN-13: 978-1449497422
Written by June Sobel
Illustrated by Laura Huliska-Beith
As the companion to bestselling picture book The Goodnight Train, young readers will happily get on board for this rhythmic bedtime read-aloud. One clickety-clack train, one herd of poky sheep, and a quick-thinking engineer take readers on a smile-inducing journey through Dreamland—the whimsical paintings adding a cheerful and peaceful tone the whole way through.
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Ages 4-7 | Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers | September 4, 2018 | ISBN-13: 978-1328500199
Written and Illustrated by Britta Teckentrup
With lyrical prose and elegant illustrations, Moon: A Peek-Through Picture Book will put a smile on the faces of our non-fiction fans and animal lovers. With richly saturated images of animals and exotic locations around the world, readers will be drawn into this graceful and rhythmic book. Add in the smartly designed cutouts of the moon rolling through its phases, and this book is an interactive delight. From sweet little puffins up North to exotic birds and colorfully-eyed frogs in the evening mists of the jungle, every child will find their favorite animal on one of the pages.
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Ages 3-7 | Publisher: Doubleday Books for Young Readers | February 20, 2018 | ISBN-13: 978-1-524-76966-6
Written by Karla “Pearl E. Horne” Oceanak
Illustrated by Kendra Spanjer
How about a Goodnight Moon parody to close out your evening? This picture book is for all those little lords and ladies who adore unicorns and have grown up on the classic Goodnight Moon tale. A sweet retelling, each page rhymes in the same singsong style of the original. It will be an instant classic for any unicorn-lover out there or any child in need of a great rhyming bedtime story.
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Ages 4-8 | Publisher: Bailiwick Press | 2016 | ISBN-13: 978-1-93464963-3
The article 5 Bedtime Stories for Falling Asleep With a Smile was curated by The Children’s Book Review and sponsored* by HarperCollins. For similar books and articles, follow along with our content tagged with Bedtime Stories, Raven Howell, and Sleep.