In honor of While You’re Asleep hitting shelves in just one week, I thought I’d talk a little about my love of bedtime books. Books are meant to be read anywhere and at any time, of course. Then there’s the bedtime book—one of my favorite genres of picture books— that directly addresses sleep and bedtime in some way, and is predominantly read at … you guessed it, bedtime.
In our house, the beloved bedtime books make their way into heavy rotation. We’ve read them so many times that we’ve all committed our favorites to memory. All three of our kids have LOVED Sandra Boynton’s The Going to Bed Book. It was a part of the baby/toddler bedtime routine—brushing teeth, pj’s, bathroom, The Going to Bed Book. They’ve loved it so much that it’s basically evaporated into dust. No worries, though. I could stand and recite it from cover to cover right now like a Shakespearean sonnet.
The sun has set not long ago/ Now everybody goes below/ to take a bath in one big tub/ with soap all over — SCRUB SCRUB SCRUB …
Isn’t that liminal space between awake and asleep so weird? Yes, that’s the best word for that. Weird. Right? And not just for kids, but for all of us. You’re slowing everything down, both physically and mentally. You’re alone with your thoughts and to-do lists. You’re rehashing things you’ve said, and the things you should have said. And your worries. And fears. And it’s dark! When I’m internally freaking out during a bedtime that’s running long and wishing my kids would just Go the F to Sleep, I have to remind myself just how terrifying, and weird, going to bed can be. Thankfully, there are books for all bedtime occasions: the sweet and cuddly, the sing-song silly, the tender nights that tug on heartstrings, the restless in need of the repetitive rhymes that are oh so good at lulling heavy eyelids into sleepy submission, the evenings replete with the stalling of the stubborn ...
I’m grateful have stories to guide the ride into the sleepy unknown.
I tapped my family to put our heads together and make a list of our favorite three bedtime books. And here are nine. Well, TEN if we count Boynton’s Going to Bed Book that is, as previously mentioned, now dust. (The starred books were agreed on by all five Kastners as favorites)
In the Night Kitchen, Maurice Sendak — I loved this book as a kid, and my kids love it too. That opening line! My parents had a Laurel and Hardy towel and I always thought that towel was connected to the book.
Dim Sum Palace, X. Fang * — There is no false step in this book. You’re immediately drawn in to the story and a part of the dream. Such a compliment to In the Night Kitchen, but a book entirely its own. We’re all obsessed.
Just Because, Mac Barnett and Isabelle Arsenault * — This one captures that bedtime unease so well. It may be unease, or it could just be a little girl with some big questions … Is it stalling? Does she not want to be alone in that room? Whatever the reason, we’re laughing and along for the ride. The perfect ending that lands on the perfect note, like a kiss on the forehead, that eases anxious kids into sleep.
How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight, Jane Yolen and Mark Teague — Another one of those books that’s just part of bedtime. I think we got this at a garage sale and suddenly it was part of the routine. And to be honest, it’s entertaining to see how a dinosaur would act at bedtime.
Pajama Time and The Going to Bed Book, Sandra Boynton — Maybe it’s the quick clip? Perhaps it’s the bounce of that Boynton rhyme? There’s definitely some sort of magic involved that keeps kids coming back. Whatever it is, they’re icons of the bedtime book genre. (Oh! And SNUGGLE PUPPY! I feel like I should also make a list of Bedtime Book Favorite List Snubs because I’m thinking of even more that we love as I type this!)
Another, Christian Robinson — This book starts and ends with a girl in her bed. Whatever fever dream happens in the middle makes for some fun narration between me and my kids in this wordless picture book. My youngest feels like the publisher forgot the words, but she’s grateful because we can change it up every time we read. (She also thinks she invented “Greg Pizzoli” … but that’s another story)
Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site, Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld — I do love a bedtime rhyme. This book was beloved for a bit too. Any time a book mentions the word YAWN, I yawn. Is that just me?
Goodnight Moon, Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd — Classic. No notes. There has been so much written about this book. I love it so. GOODNIGHT NOBODY FOREVER.
Everyone’s Awake, Colin Meloy and Shawn Harris * — That electric yellow GLOWS at bedtime, my friends. This is one that we all love. The ghost of grandpa steals the show. The kids grab it off the shelf, and it’s my husband’s absolute favorite. Mabel said, “You don’t even have to know what the French Revolution is to like this book.” Best blurb ever?
I read Mac Barnett’s A Picture Book Manifesto forever ago. 2012-ish, I think? At the time, making books was something I’d always wanted to do. We’d just moved back to Michigan from San Francisco, and I was working on a manuscript, Googling just how one goes about getting into the world of making books, having babies, and starting a youth writing center. I read this line from that manifesto: “Even books meant to put kids to sleep should give them strange dreams.” It felt like a revelation on the tip of my tongue, and a celebration of what I loved about my most favorite bedtime books. I made a mental note, adding “Write a bedtime book” to the list of sort of books I’d like to make some day.
And here we are. I’ve got a bedtime book of my own to share with you. Again, you can order from my local indie, or wherever you buy your books. And it’s dedicated to cozy bedtimes and strange little dreams.
This is a fantastic list! (And 1000 times yes to The Going to Bed book -- sometimes out of nowhere, my husband and I will start reciting it to one another and get through the whole thing 😂)
This is a wonderful list! The yawn mentions get me in “Goodnight Goodnight, Construction Site,” too. But not my children, of course 🥴🤭 I’m looking forward to adding your book to our nighttime rotation!