More Top Bed Time Books for Babies

by tedgar | More from this Blogger

30 Sep 2009 10:19 PM

When my daughter was a baby, sometimes I despaired of reading to her. After all, there are only so many times you can go through the "what's this?" and "what's that" books with the pictures and the words. You know the ones. The plot is a little thin, though babies love the bright pictures of the apples and the zebras. Older babies love finding the objects in question. However, as a former English major, I yearned for plot, character, even a setting.

Besides, she ate the books. Literally. We have one book about babies with delightfully cute pictures, and the one that says "This little baby is hungry!" has been gnawed off. If she wasn't chewing the books, she was banging them: on the floor, on the table, on my head. So when it came to bed time, I thought that she'd be less than keen to read.

Not so, but we had to time it right. We started our reading just before the bath, during our winding down and snuggle time. We'd do a couple of ABC books, then we'd give the English major a carrot - a traditional bed time story. And you know what? My daughter loved those too. Granted, the books weren't as chewy and the plot was a little thick, but the pictures were good and the words danced. Then we could both sleep with ease.

Here are a few more of our favorite bedtime books, some less traditional ones this time:

Night Cars by Teddy Jam

This large board book is a little odd, but it was also one of my daughter's favorites, since she loves cars. It's also a good gift choice for a family with a single dad, since it features a father waking with his son in the night. They watch the cars go by, watch the snow fall, watch a dog and a garbage truck...and wake in the morning rather groggy to go for coffee and hot chocolate.

The Salamander Room by Anne Mazer

This is not a baby book, yet it is one of my favorite bed time books for any age. The pictures are luscious! A little boy finds a salamander in the forest and decides to bring it home. An unnamed person, likely his mother, asks him how he will take care of it. Plant by plant and animal and animal, the little boy brings the forest into his room.

Goodnight, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann

While this is not my daughter's favorite book, I have read it to great guffaws from other babies and toddlers. It's a hide and seek book of sorts. The zookeeper goes out in the evening to say goodnight to all of the animals, and the sneaky gorilla unlocks all of their cages. All of the animals crawl into bed with the zookeeper and his wife! This is a very visual book with few words.

Snoozers by Sandra Boynton

Where oh where would the world be without Sandra Boynton and her wonderful world of hippos? These silly and very short bedtime stories are good for babies, toddlers, and beyond.

What books do you love to read with your baby?

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Tricia Edgar is a mom of one lovely daughter. Before her daughter was born, she decided to be guided by the needs of her child, and this led her to attachment parenting philosophies.

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