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Hi Kid Lit friends!
One of my favorite things to buy are books for toddlers. There are so many gorgeous bedtime books out, and I love gifting them to parents who are probably very tired of reading Goodnight Moon.
Bedtime for Sweet Creatures by Nikki Grimes, illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon, is a charming bedtime book filled with bright colors and adorable animals. When Mommy needs to wrangle her sweet creature in bed so that the whole family can sleep, the little boy dodges around his bedtime, until he is tired enough to finally sleep. His imaginative animal friends weave their way through the illustrations, eventually joining him in curling up for the night.
Time for Bed, Miyuki by Roxane Marie Galliez, illustrated by Seng Soun Ratanavanh is a gorgeous book filled with stunning illustrations created from watercolor and colored pencils. Dive into the world of Miyuki, where bedtime is filled with all the things she has to do before she can possibly go to bed: she needs to water the vegetables, gather snails, and prepare for the arrival of the Dragonfly Queen. While her patient grandfather follows along on her adventures, gently encouraging her to go to sleep, he also joins her imagination where snails are gentle giants.
Lift by Minh Le, illustrated by Dan Santat, is another imagination romp, perfect for bedtime. Iris loves to push the elevator buttons in her apartment building, and she does not like sharing the task with her little brother. That is, until the sudden appearance of a mysterious new button opens up entire realms of possibility, places where she can escape and explore on her own. But when she’s forced to choose between going at it alone or letting her little brother tag along, Iris finds that sharing a discovery with the people you love can be the most wonderful experience of all.
Music for Mister Moon by Philip Stead, illustrated by Erin Stead is a gorgeous book by one of my favorite author/illustrator pairings. This lovely book follows a girl named Harriet who longs to play her cello alone in her room. But when a noisy owl disrupts her solitude, Harriet throws her teacup out the window in frustration, and accidentally knocks the moon out of the sky. Over the course of an evening, Harriet and the moon become fast friends. Worried that he’ll catch a chill, Harriet buys the moon a soft woolen hat, then takes him on a boat ride across a glistening lake, something he’s only dreamed of. But can she work up the courage to play her music for the moon?
A Big Bed for Little Snow by Grace Lin is a sweet bedtime book about not going to bed and not listening to your mother! Instead, Little Snow loves the new big, soft bed Mommy made him for the long, cold winter nights. But Mommy says this bed is for sleeping, not jumping! What happens when he can’t resist jump, jump, jumping on his new fluffy, bouncy bed?
What are your favorite bedtime picture books? Let me know! Find me on Twitter at @KarinaYanGlaser, on Instagram at @KarinaIsReadingAndWriting, or email me at KarinaBookRiot@gmail.com.
Until next time!
Karina
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