Books for Bedtime

One of the best times of day for me, as a parent, is reading the girls a story before bedtime. There is just something wonderful about snuggling up together and sharing a story, whether it is a new book that we have borrowed from the library, or an old favourite that I could probably recite word-for-word. Bedtime stories have been a part of the girls routine since they were very young. Sometimes they have a story together, but more often than not it is having some one-to-one time with each of us, alternating nights between a “mummy story” or “daddy story”.

ASPACE and The Great British Bookshop have teamed up to find the best bedtime book, and as part of their “Bedtime Book Campaign” we were sent copies of ten books in order to decide which was our favourite. I was pleased to see there were some classics included:

The Gruffalo has always been a firm favourite in this house. At one point, Freyja used to be too scared of the Gruffalo for us to be able to read the book to her, but very soon this changed and she would be able to quote huge chunks of it as she had heard it so often. Freyja has also been facinated by Where The Wild Things Are – enjoying the illustrations as much as the story. I love how at the end of the story after Max has returned home, his supper is waiting for him, still warm, reassuring the child that no matter how wild they act, they are still loved and cared for.

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt is a brilliant story. Both the girls love it. It is great for a bedtime story as it has the repetitive chorus that the children love, with fun noises at each verse and isn’t really annoying to read over and over again. We’ve often recited it as we have been out on walks, but the benefit of reading it at bedtime is that you can snuggle up under a duvet together to hide from the bear!

Although those classics will always be enjoyed, we did discover some new favourites. The girls were drawn straight away to the Charlie and Lola book I will not ever NEVER eat a tomato. They really related to the fact that there are certain foods that Lola will not eat (although they couldn’t get their heads around the idea of someone not liking fish fingers) but her big brother helps her try them by pretending that they are exciting foods from outer space or other parts of the world. Their favourite was Pip and Posy: The Little Puddle which is all about how Pip has an accident whilst he is playing at his friend, Posy’s house. I would never have guessed that they would have both picked this one, but Freyja claims to like it as she thinks it is funny that he has a wee on the floor!

I enjoyed reading them I Wish I Had Been Born A Unicorn which has a lovely message about true friends caring about how you are feeling rather than what you look like. However, my favourite book was No Matter What. This is a beautiful story about unconditional love, with Large fox reassuring Small fox that they are loved no matter what. I hadn’t heard of this book before and hadn’t looked through it before I read it to Freyja, so at the end when Large explains how love goes on forever, even after we die, I couldn’t help but shed a few tears.

Do you have any favourite stories to read at bedtime? What would you pick in your Top Ten Books? If you want to try any of the ones that we were sent, you can find them here and if you use the code BEDTIME at the checkout before the end of the month you can get 10% off – perfect for Christmas presents, or a Christmas eve treat to help settle down your little ones before they wait for a visit from Santa!