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Children's books

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Good bedtime stories for kids

8 replies

squadus · 07/05/2024 02:16

Can anybody recommend a few good bedtime stories that I can read aloud to kids or let them listen to on a good audiobook?

I recently picked up "Bedtime Stories For Kids (5 Minute Short Reads)" by E.J. Nightingale on audiobook and they loved every second of it.

OP posts:
Forgottenmyphone · 07/05/2024 05:22

Stories for Bedtime/Goodnight Stories by Enid Blyton
Mrs Pepperpot Stories

BoleynMemories13 · 07/05/2024 05:39

How old are they? What are their interests? Literally anything can be a good bedtime read if it hits the right spot but what I would suggest for, say, an 18 month old, a 4 year old, a 7 year old or a 10 year old would be very different so a bit more guidance could be useful (assuming this isn't just an advertisement for the linked collection?)

I'm going to stick with the 3-5 picture book age for now, based on the limited information we have. My favourite 'gentle' calming reads (as personally that's what I prefer to read at bedtime, saving the humorous or adventure packed ones for the daytime, but obviously any bedtime story is better than no bedtime story so if that's the only time of day you have to read you may wish to include more 'exciting' tales) include:-

Night Monkey, Day Monkey (Julia Donaldson)
One Bear at Bedtime (Julia Donaldson)
Peace at Last (Jill Murphy)
Whatever Next (Jill Murphy)
Lost and Found (Oliver Jeffers)
How to Catch a Star (Oliver Jeffers)
The Best Kind of Bear (Greg Gormley)
Princess Sleepyhead and the Night-Night Bear (Peter Bently)
A Home Full of Friends (Peter Bently)
Ella's Night Lights (Lucy Fleming)
The Boy and the Bear (Tracey Corderoy)
Here Comes the Sun (Karl Newson)
Together (Charles Fuge)
Percy the Park Keeper series (Nick Butterworth)
Elmer series (David McKee)
Ten Minutes to Bed series (Rhiannon Fielding)

Honestly though there are far too many amazing reads out there to list. Join the library, let them choose books and experiment. They'll soon find their own favourites.

mummatoI · 07/05/2024 06:20

Depends on age. My DD is 4 and LOVES the Julia Donaldson/Axel (not even going to try and spell his surname) books! She has all of them.

If they love audio books have you tried a Tonie box? We've had once since DD was 2 and she loves it, we have specific ones for bed time - in the night garden, going on a bear hunt, gruffalo, snail and the whale and stickman, but then she has "daytime" ones which have more singing on them as well as stories. Tonies are expensive but I would say 100% worth it and the variety available is insane!

storylady · 18/08/2024 01:53

I'm a British author writing a series of picture story books for children, including calm, soothing imaginative bedtime stories and wonderful fairy tales for different age ranges such as toddlers, ages to 3-5, and ages 5-7.
Q. I'd be interested to know from parents what type of stories and what animals/characters you'd like and whether you feel your children prefer rhyming verses in a story book.
And as I'm a dolphin lover I'm also putting finishes touches to my illustrations before I release a new range of Baby Dolphin Stories (delightful enchanted coves, baby dolphin tales, and under the sea adventures with ocean friends and mermaids etc). I was disappointed not to find any good children's dolphin story books to read to my little one so I'm writing a few and illustrating myself as I am an artist illustrator. Wondering what other parents would like and does anyone else like dolphin tales?!😊

Kipperthedawg · 18/08/2024 01:57

storylady · 18/08/2024 01:53

I'm a British author writing a series of picture story books for children, including calm, soothing imaginative bedtime stories and wonderful fairy tales for different age ranges such as toddlers, ages to 3-5, and ages 5-7.
Q. I'd be interested to know from parents what type of stories and what animals/characters you'd like and whether you feel your children prefer rhyming verses in a story book.
And as I'm a dolphin lover I'm also putting finishes touches to my illustrations before I release a new range of Baby Dolphin Stories (delightful enchanted coves, baby dolphin tales, and under the sea adventures with ocean friends and mermaids etc). I was disappointed not to find any good children's dolphin story books to read to my little one so I'm writing a few and illustrating myself as I am an artist illustrator. Wondering what other parents would like and does anyone else like dolphin tales?!😊

They sound gentle and sweet. My DC would hate them. They like mild peril, gruesome endings for the bad guys and some humour in there too. Maybe write one about a sarky shark who disguises herself as a dolphin, eats the other dolphins but ultimately ends up lonely so decides to become a vegetarian?

storylady · 18/08/2024 13:57

That’s interesting thanks for your input and probably suited for age 5 upwards. But I avoid any bedtime content that depicts violence such as eating a poor baby dolphin ahh no. Funny tales gets a thumbs up and reassuring stories where the bad guys don’t win yes that’s all good too! Your DC would probably enjoy the fart humour (humor) in some of my stories and grown ups have to make all the sound effects lol😉

EleonoraL · 12/01/2025 20:02

I’ve found a couple of great options for bedtime stories! I used to read from Storyberries - it’s an amazing resource, and I really like their audio versions. Recently, we started exploring the Mini Bedtime Stories website. One thing I love about it is that they include discussion points after each story, which was exactly what I was looking for.

I like to keep my kids engaged and encourage them to think critically about the stories. I’ve always asked questions after reading, and I believe it’s really helped both of my kids develop their thinking and communication skills

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