Naptime Book Ideas

Goodnight Gorilla is a great one. The story is as big or small as you want it to be. We find new things in each reading (color coded keys/cages, find the balloon and the mouse, baby toys in the animals' cages etc) My son is 21 mos and still loves it. Now we imitate expressions and tell the story together.

The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton. Anything she has written is usually in board book and entertaining!

I really love the "Going to Bed Book" by Sandra Boynton.

"Pyjama Time", by Sandra Boynton, is a lot of fun. "I Know a Rhyno" by Charles Fuge is also fun, though not specifically for bedtime. Sandra Boynton, I must add, has so many fun board books. I have most of the books that are shown on the back of Pyjama Time. I also got a few others by Eric Carle (BTW, Goodnight Moon & Brown Bear, Brown Bear were the first 2 books we bought for my son as well).

Happy Reading!!

My 15 month old daughter's all time favorite book to read before bed is "I Love You Stinky Face". It's actually a sweet story, despite it's name about a mother's unconditional love for her child.

My son (age 17 months) loves the book "Good Night Gorilla" by Peggy Rathmann and "Night Night Baby", which is a Discovery Toys book. He's been liking those books for many months now and always points to them when I ask him to pick out a book before bedtime!

"When I'm Sleepy" by J. Howard is a great sleep book in general.

Good night, Gorilla (Rathmann) and Guess how much I love you (McBratney) have both been great books for getting my 2 kids settled down for nap or bedtime. They aren't about taking a nap per se, but they both end with all the characters in bed. I think they are soothing and set the right tone. We also love The Mitten (Brett). Lots of animals squeeze themselves into a little mitten. The kids love the page where the big bear sneezes. They both started sneezing along with the bear at 11 or 12 months. Lots of fun for everyone =) Good luck and enjoy storytime. It's an important part of each and every day for our family.

There is a book called "The Napping House" by Audrey Wood that I like.

Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?
This was a favorite of ours!

Big Red Barn - Margaret Wise Brown- the same author of goodnight moon. my baby pointed to the pictures and now finds the animals, great book to grow with. Very rythmic poetry, great pictures.

Hi T.
I have a 1 year boy old who I keep books out for all day long
because he loves all of the illistrations and me reading to him plain and simple we just love to read, anyway I have the same routine I try and read books everytime he takes a nap or goes to bed if he isnt that tired but its still a good thing that you start early on with reading they will be more like to want to read later on and be at higher level for reading. but that point is that I dont really have a speciffic book that targets to nap time , any book that says good night or goes from day to night is a good bed time story
so here are some books I read to my son everyday, he loves to mix it up he also loves these books Touch and feel books from wild ,to baby animals and farm ones to you can find these books at www.dk.com , he loves them cause you can feel different textures of animals its also a great way for him to learn motor and talking skills , those would be good for when your son gets older
most of the books my son has out are board books that way he doesnt ruin them.
. Good night moon( a favorite in my house)
.Little spider a fun puppet book that comes in book sets(www.chroinclekids.com) of you can find im sure in any book store)
.Baby Love I see clouds in the sky(www.dk.com) not sure what stores its in got as a gift
Fogs & friends Readers Digest Childrens book not sure where to get it was a gift but sure any book store will have it
.Geena Girafee A sleepy time Story book (www.Kidsbooks.com
.Guess How Much I Love you(kohls)
those are some of the favorite stories for nap or bed time in my house
I loves all of these books and soo does my son so I hope that you will find these helpful
Good Luck :) if you need help with any other types of books just message me to let me know cause I have a long list of books that you could get if you want that I have gotten as a gift or bought myself for my sons different stages these would also be good for your sons different stages of learning....

I have always read 'The Very Quiet Cricket' to my daughter. It is not necessarily about nap time but it goes from day to night in the book and she LOVES the cricket sound at the end and wiggles in anticipation every time. 'Pajama Time' by Sandra Boynton is also a good one.

In addition to the titles already mentioned, here are a few sleep-themed books we have:
The Usborne Book of Lullabies (comes w/ CD),
Five Wishing Stars, illustrated by Sarah Dillard,
Disney's First Words: Roo's Bedtime (w/ CD,
Good Night, Little One (lift the flap), by Salina Yoon,
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star an dother favorite bedtime rhymes, illustrated by Sanja Rescek.

Perhaps for older kids:
Nighty Night! by Margaret Wild + Derry Argent
How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague.

Eventually, you'll want to mix the books you read, as will your son.
Good Luck,
J.

I don't know of a specific Nap time book but one of my favorite bedtime books is Mem Fox's Time for Bed. Very soothing, not too long, cute illustrations of several animals going to bed, snuggling w/their mothers. My 2 yr. old twins have loved this one since they were about a year old.

Hi T.,
A few of my (and my kids) favs are: "The Napping House", "Guess How Much I love You", "The Giving Tree". Enjoy every moment, you will reep the benefits of this reading time everyday!
M. O

We love "Hush Little Baby" by Sylvia Long. Beautiful illustrations, and you can sing the improved version as a lulla-bye. She also did a version of Twinkle,twinkle, little star.
Another great book is "Time for Bed" by Mem Fox, illustrated by Jane Dyer. We have this story as an over-sized board books and my children love it.

Hi T.,
I am a 35yr old stay at home mom with 4 kids. I am a very big believer that routine is big. All my kids have been great sleepers/nappers because I feel that I always kept their sleep routine the same. I always read to them, and yes board books at that age are great. It is still what my 2 yr old loves. Anyway, here are some favorites that all my kids really liked; Any Eric Carle book, ie The Very Busy Spider, The Very Hungry Caterpillar etc., The Big Red Barn, Five little Monkeys, books by Sandra Boynton like The Going to Bed Book, Baby Owls (big Fav), Those are the big favorites, they are all board books and they also last a long time. Most of the books I have are from my oldest daughter who is 11. Good luck!