Which are your kids favourite cosy bedtime books?

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We've been having trouble with dd sleeping lately and I've been wondering if it's partly to do with the books I've been reading her at bedtime.

She's 22 months and quite verbally bright, she can follow a fairly simple story with explanations. Which cosy, cuddly-type bedtime stories did / do your kids like at around this age?

Can I have a Hug, I know it off by heart so hear goes.

I like hugging owl but her feathers make me sneeze,
and it rather hard to hug a hive of fuzzy buzzy bees,
Bunnys are too bouncy,
And spiders are too small,
But I love the hugs I have with you,
The very best of all.

Its beautifully illustrated and the final picture is of baby bear hugging his daddy/mummy, withowl, spider, bunny, and bees hugging too.

It was ds1 fav book.

Also Guess how much I love you is also a favourite

sorry its Mr Bear says Can I have a Hug? by Debi Gliori, another book by her is Mr Bear Says Goodnight...

Say goodnight to the bunnies the owls and the bees,
Say goodnight to the bright moon shinning down through the trees,
Say goodnight to you daddy say goodnight to your mum,
Sleep tight little baby till morning does come

I just love these books, doing them all again for ds2 (1.5)

Guess how much I love you by Sam McBratney - ace book - about bedtime too.

And another vote for Peepo by Alan Ahlberg.

Thought of some more...

the Little Bear books by Virginia Miller.

Little Tiger series

Dora's Eggs

Poetry is always good for little ones, and I do believe in starting them young! There are lots of lovely childrens poetry books.

And of course some of the traditional fairy tales. I like the Ladybird ones personally.

The appropriately named The Baby Who Wouldn't Go To Bed by Helen Cooper (or anything else by her)

My DD (2y 4m) cosy bedtime story would be Ehere, oh where, is Kipper's Bear. She likes the hiding bear with the torch on the last page. But most betime stories at the moment for her at the M&S Early Reader's fairy sries - they are just the right length and complexity for her to concentrate on. Favourite at the moment is Beauty and the Beast.

DD loves:
Jump In, Nine naughty kittens, Hippos, I know a rhino, Tell me something happy before i go to sleep,

i now know these books off by heart ....

dd1 loves the noisy night the illustrations are really good

tiger who came to tea

Agree with a lot here - Gruffalo, Monkey Puzzle, Kiss goodnight Sam, Goodnight moon, and we also love farmyard tales, and at the moment ds1 (2.5) insists on Mr Men books.

now goodnight moon ias an american clasic isnt it? we hav it somehow and i must say htey love it

also agree wth hula about kippers bear altho our battery has run out

Thanks again everyone. There's loads here we haven't read yet. So far we're into all the books by the Gruffalo author (except, weirdly the Gruffalo himself!). And the Blue Kangaroo books are very popular. I also got a book called 'more' by the same author of the Blue Kangaroo books which is wonderful and had little dd dozing off! Tiger who came to tea was a winner too. She also loves Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks, Jack and the BEanstalk.

Sometimes though she's mad on a book for a while then when we sit down for story time she says adamantly 'no 'Room on the Broom'' and refuses it totally for a while. Anyone else's kids do this?

My kids definitely go through stages where they only want certain books. Their books are all on a bookcase where they can get at them though, so they pick out their own stories to read.

"Peepo" - my two loved this from a very early age - they never got tired of hearing it and I never got tired of reading it.

It starts,

There's a little baby, one, two, three,
Sits in his highchair, what does he see?

Apologies if its already been mentioned, didn't read the whole thread.

"Some Dogs Do" by Jez Alborough (sp?), "The Lion who Wanted to Love" by Giles Andreae, "Tatty Ratty" by Helen Cooper, "No More Kisses" by Helen Chichester-Clarke.

My dd's (23months) current favourites:
the Baby who wouldn't go to bed and Bear under the stairs by Helen Cooper Clark
Duck in the truck - jez Alborough
Small - can't remember but about Tom and his mouse small
Alfie's feet, in fact all Alfie and Annie Rose stories - Shirley Hughes

She also loves tale of the two bad mice and Peter Rabbit

I spoke to Tim Warnes who drew the little tiger series on the phone this morning (something to do with work) and gushed over him as though he were a pop star. Sad .

current faves are Some Dogs Do and Fix-it Duck both by Jez Alborough

Just got a really lovely one by Roger McGough, it's called Moonthief and it's gorgeous.

'No Matter What' by Debi Gliori - got it out of the library and dd kicked up such a fuss when we had to take it back that I had to go and buy it. Know it by heart now and right on cue after I say ...I'll always love you' dd does the 'No Matter What' bit. Such a lovely book and no matter how many times we read it I always get choked up at the end ....
....'love, like starlight, never dies'

• boo hoo!!

Haven't read all the thread so someone might have already mentioned this one. But we have a great book for dd called 'Underwater Farm'. It's way to old for her right now (she 13 months) and we just look at the pictures of the animals but it would suit your dd. Story is written as a rhyme and ends with all the underwater animals going to sleep!

Favourite bedtime stories in our house are Guess how much I love you, I love you just the way you are and Flora's blanket all highly reccomended.

Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. Beautiful book, all sparkly and a lovely story about learning to share.

Just thought of some more:

'Mog' is a big fave at the momnent
'Little Zeb' books (can't remember author) - very cute - 'tip top blooming happy'!!
Kiss Goodnight Sam (as recommended earlier)

nothing to do with books, but DD (2.8) likes to do counting to 10 together before she goes to sleep! - bizaare but it seems to work.

"People What Do" by Richard Scarry (aka What Do People Do All Day?) is DS1's current favourite (3). Have you tried the Sleep Book by Dr Seuss? It has me yawning! There is also a lovely book called Husherbye by John Burningham, which is a nice wind down, even after an exciting book.