Best Books to Help Your Child Fall Asleep

 Who doesn’t love a good bedtime story? Nothing creates bonds between a parent and child than reading the little one to sleep at night, the shared period of attention and emotion is always an immensely pleasurable for both sides.

What’s even better about bedtime story time is that not only is it fun for parent and child, it’s also incredibly beneficial for the nipper’s cognitive development. Studies have found that reading stories to your child will stimulate development and put them in a better position once they reach school age.

Kids who have are regularly read to an early age have better language development and tend to have better language later in life. Additionally, getting their hands on the pages of a book with their thumb and forefinger also helps them to improve their motor skills.

But what exactly makes for a good bedtime story? Well, ideally it should be something that sparks their imagination but still helps them to nod off. Getting them to sleep is after all the primary motive of a story time.

Well read on below and we will give you our top five books to help send bubs to la la land.

 The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep by Carl-Johan Forssén Ehrlin

When Swedish author Ehrlin set out to pen his bedtime story he didn’t just rely on a lovely story to ensure the tiny ones will nod off sharply. No, instead he turned to a host of sophisticated psychological techniques.

By using a fair amount of linguistic trickery, involving repetition, subliminal suggestions and the active use of yawning, plus frequent use of the child’s name, the book’s narrative nudges and nudges the reader closer to sleep.

Ehrlin wrote The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep after much consolidation with psychologists and therapists. The author claims that, “Every word has been carefully chosen to create the magic, as parents sometimes call it”.

So what’s the story about? Well it’s a fairly basic tale of Roger Rabbit and his journey to fall asleep, along the way he bumps into host of colorful characters the likes of Sleepy Snail, Uncle Yawn and Heavy-Eyed Owl. What fun!

 Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown:

An absolute bedtime classic. Goodnight Moon has been lulling little ones to sleep since it was first published way back in 1947. Goodnight Moon is picture driven rhyming poem that takes the little reader on a tour of all the things it is possible to say goodnight to. “Goodnight room, goodnight moon…” etc, etc. You get the idea!

The book is a great combination of teaching aid and sleep inducer. It has a soporific lulling pace that worked on your parents, worked on you and will still work on your little one.
How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? by Jane Yolen:

Bedtime stories can be really funny. How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? is definitely one of these.

Set to a lovely pace the acclaimed author Jane Yolan’s book is a rib-tickling playful tale looking at how young dinosaurs say goodnight when papa comes to turn off the light.

Spoiler alert – it turns young dinosaurs say goodnight a lot like people do although with a few more tails and wings involved.

If after safely sending your little one to sleepytown you still have trouble dropping off yourself, why not check out what the slumber experts have to say over at the Sleep Advisor.

Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann

Kids love nothing more than weird and wonderful animals, fortunately Peggy Rahmann’s chuckle-inducing book is jammed full of them.

This is a great book for those who are just getting started reading, the story of Good Night, Gorilla is told almost entirely through lush illustrations.

The narrative follows a zookeeper as he makes his way around the zoo saying goodnight to the animals under his care. Little does our hapless hero know that a gorilla has managed to get hold of his keys and is unlocking each animals cage in turn. The growing band of creatures follows the zookeeper as he makes his rounds and ultimately follow him home to bed where he’s in for quite a shock!

Where the Wild Things Are By Maurice Sendak

 Chances are you’ve heard of this one. Recently made into a beautiful if slightly scary film, Maurice Sendak’s magical book tells the tale of one poorly behaved little boy named Max who flees home and sails away to a place where monsters “roar their terrible roars.”

One for the slightly older kids, the book is one part adventure and one part whimsical tale. Fortunately despite the presence of so many wild things, the story has a lovely happy ending involving a nice bowl of hot soup.

Well there you have  it – that’s our list. Five books that are guaranteed to entertain your little one and still help lull them to sleep. Happy reading book fans!