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Good Night, Sleep Tight: Reading at Bedtime

December 27, 2016

Reading stories before bed is a great way to engage with your child and ensure their lifelong love of books and stories. It is also a key opportunity to bond with your child and show them how much you enjoy reading and books too.

The quintessential benefits of reading to/with your child are:

  • Developing language skills – children who are read to on a regular basis are exposed to more rare words and tend to have better language skills as they get older

  • Promoting and improving fine motor skills by allowing your child to turn the pages

  • Encouraging their imagination and higher order thinking – children who are read to learn how to solve problems and to dream of new opportunities and magical places

Here are some of our favorites for the under five crowd!

Playtime? in which a little boy tries to convince his gorilla to go to bed. This book is full of repetitive phrases for you and your child to read together.

Good Night Like This, which uses rhyming text to show how different parents and children say good night.

Good night Owl: his antics are sure to make your little one laugh as he tries to fall asleep.

You may also enjoy these titles as well:

 

Chapter books also make great bedtime stories for older children. As your child becomes a stronger reader, you can encourage them to read to you. When you read together, you’re giving your child the opportunity to develop and improve reading strategies necessary for school and the chance to expand their perspectives.  

Here are some of our favorites for the six and older group!

Wonder, which will be released as a movie in April 2017. Wonder will delight all ages as they learn about acceptance and friendship.

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library about a group of kids who get to spend the night in a library and have to solve clues to escape!

Fish in a Tree, which is a story of teacher seeing a little girl’s true potential and helping her succeed when she didn’t even believe in herself.

Fortunately, the Milk – a whirlwind tale of a father’s journey out to get some milk for cereal and tea.

You might also enjoy these titles as well:

Cassie headshot thumbnail

Cassandra

Cassie is a Children's Librarian at Edmondson Pike Branch Library. She can often be found reading books and singing songs, and not just at the library! Her favorite thing to do at the moment is cuddle her baby while they read phenomenal picture books and earn Read to Rise points.