The Goodnights Guide
An evolving list of worthwhile bedtime stories.
Categories
Quickly jump to a category with the links below.
Seasonal Selections
Timely Traditions
The Sweet Smell of Christmas
The Jolly Christmas Postman
A Christmas Carol
Bear stays Up for Christmas
The Legend of the Poinsettia
Opportunities for Performance & Improvisation
When half the words are onomatapoiea or there are no words at all, the bedtime storyteller really needs to bring the energy.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
Little Blue Truck
Journey
Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things that Go
Barnyard Dance
Go, Dog. Go!
Don’t Let the Pigeons Drive the Bus
Odd Lessons
Books that might have the structure of ending with a “lesson” or “moral” but whose lesson/moral seems wrongly applied, or simply absent, or whatever.
The Lucky Yak
Caps for Sale
Jeremy Fisher
Suitably Sassy Leads
Stories your “spirited” child is sure to relate to.
Olivia
The Day the Crayons Quit
Matilda
The Gift of a Gimmick
Another way to engage in the story and make the page that much more appealing.
My Turtle and Me
Pat the Bunny
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Dear Zoo
Where’s Waldo?
Young Adult Books About Unsupervised Children
When leaving a child by themselves for the night, leave them with stories of what children do when left by themselves during the day.
The Five Children and It
The Black Stallion
The Jungle Book
Swallows and Amazons
The Cat in the Hat
The Secret Garden
Fantastic Worlds and Where to Find Them
Learning to enjoy reading is pretty closely connected with learning to appreciate the vast capacity of one’s own imagination.
The Hobbit
Chronicles of Prydain
The Little Prince
Where the Wild Things Are
The Chronicles of Narnia
Harry Potter
Soothing Nighttime Benedictions
Lullabyes for those who can’t sing.
Goodnight Moon
Wherever You Are: My Love Will Find You
Time for Bed
Undeniably Inspirational
End the day on a high note.
The Little Engine that Could
Ferdinand
The Giving Tree
Thoughtful Animal Protagonists
Furry heroes and heroines we can all look up to.
Library Lion
Wind in the Willows
Watership Down
Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm
City Dog, Country Frog
The Trumpet of the Swan
Frog & Toad
Carl Goes Shopping
Collections of Fables
Stories worth passing down across generations.
Oscar Wilde’s Fairy Tales
George McDonald’s Fairy Tales
Aesop’s Fables
Tanglewood Tales
Arabian Nights
Grimm’s Fairy Tales
Suggest a Book
Got a favorite book (or category) you think should be included in the guide? We want to hear about it!