We love reading soothing books before bed, and this list of new kids books to read at bedtime are perfect for snuggling with your little ones at night!

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Bedtime Kisses

Written by Elisabeth de Lambilly and illustrated by Melisande Luthringer

This shaped board book bids goodnight to a variety of animals. Each turn of the page says good night to a different animal from their parent. The simple text is accompanied by cute, colorful illustrations of animal pairs snuggling before bed, ending with a goodnight between human and child.

Sweet Dreams, My Honey

Written by Rose Rossner and illustrated by Sydney Hanson

This cute board book follows all kids of animal parents as they bid good night to their little ones. Kids will love the adorable animal puns and the sweet illustrations.

Hey, Little Night Owl

Written by Jeffrey Burton and illustrated by Joy Hwang Ruiz

This heartwarming board book joins a mother owl and her little owl as they spend the night hours snuggling together. The sweet rhyming text is paired with soft, colorful illustrations highlighting the love between parent and child.

Sweet Dreams, Lil Paw

Written by Bruce Dierking and illustrated by Penny Weber

Lil wants to be just like her mother and father and brothers and sisters. But she is too young to win water dog trails like her mom or rescue people like her dad. However, in her dreams, she is just as big and powerful as her family.

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How to Put a Dinosaur to Bed

Written by Alycia Pace

Join two young kids as they attempt to put their little dinosaur to bed. Young readers will appreciate the familiar bedtime routines, and parents will get a laugh out of the kids dealing with someone not wanting to go to bed!

Goodnight Tractor

Written by Michelle Robinson and illustrated by Nick East

Follow a young boy as he imagines himself as a farmer and bids goodnight to the animals and machines around the farm. The rhyming story and cute illustrations make this a great bedtime story for little farmers.

Bedtime Stories for Hard Days

Written by Scott Stuart

This anthology of short bedtime poems is meant to provide soothing comfort at bedtime. Each poem is aimed at a particular big feeling, including When You’re Feeling Sad, When You’re Worried about Tomorrow, and When You Need to Feel My Love. The beginning of the book has a table of contents making it easy to find the poem your little one needs that night. The comforting words and adorable illustrations will help soothe them to sleep.

Sleepy Sheepy and the Sheepover

Written by Lucy Ruth Cummins and illustrated by Pete Oswald

This cute book follows Sleepy Sheepy as he goes to Grammy and Grampy’s house for a Sheepover! But what happens when he can’t go to sleep? This is a cute story about sleeping someplace new that may help young kids dealing with the same issue.

Bunny Should Be Sleeping

Written by Amy Hest and illustrated by Renata Liwska

In this sweet bedtime book, a young bunny can’t sleep and waits for his dad to check on him. When he doesn’t, he heads to Dad’s room and tries to offer him what he needs. In the end, they manage to fall asleep together.

Goodnight Digger

Written by Michelle Robinson and illustrated by Nick East

Join a little boy in his room as he plays with his transportation toys and pretends that he is out traveling in boats, rockets, and diggers. As he plays with or drives each machine, he says goodnight to it, until he cuddles up with his digger for sleep.

Little Monster Says Goodnight

Written by David Slonim

Join a little monster as he gets ready for bed with his own monsterish bedtime routines. From cold mud baths to eating bedtime stories, this monster is ready for bedtime. Kids will love the way that the monster’s bedtime rituals are similar to theirs but just a little bit different.

How to Catch Some Zzzs

Written by Megan Wagner Lloyd and illustrated by Jade Orlando

This cute picture book shares how to catch some zzzs when they go missing and you can’t fall asleep. The text and illustrations show a young girl trying all kinds of bedtime rituals in the hopes that she can catch zzzs and fall asleep. From brushing teeth to snuggling with a favorite plushy, the book is full of great ideas for settling down before bed!

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Not All Sheep are Boring!

Written by Bobby Moynihan and illustrated by Julie Rowan-Zoch

Lots of people count sheep to fall asleep at night, but the frog narrator of this funny bedtime story wants readers to know that not all sheep are boring! Kids will be laughing along as he introduces a variety of zany sheep characters, until the last one, who is actually boring enough to put people to sleep.

This Book Will Get You To Sleep

Written by Jory John and illustrated by Olivier Tallec

This funny and energetic book tries lots of crazy ways to get the reader to fall asleep. But unlike calm and soothing bedtime books, this one encourages the reader to try listening to car alarms, a raucous crowd, and dragons! Kids will love laughing at the ridiculous ways the narrator tries to get kids to sleep.

Can You Put Me to Bed?

Written by Erin Guendelsberger and illustrated by Andotwin

This interactive book asks readers to help the not-so-sleepy sloth get to bed. From drying her hair and picking her pajamas to turning on a night light and singing a lullaby, kids will love helping lull her to sleep.

Farm Lullaby

Written by Karen Jameson and illustrated by Wednesday Kirwan

Roam around a farm and watch various animals bid good night to their little ones. The lyrical rhyming text and lush illustrations creates a soothing read, perfect for bedtime!

Baa, Baa, Tap Sheep

Written by Kenda Henthorn and illustrated by Lauren Gallegos

Join a group of rocking sheep as they dance their way through children’s dreams at night. The rhyming text counts up to ten sheep and explores different types of dance, while the blue tinged illustrations show the cute sheep dancing along until everyone falls asleep.

B is for Bananas

Written by Carrie Tillotson and illustrated by Estrela Lourenco

This bedtime themed twist on the alphabet book attempts to pair letters of the alphabet with cozy bedtime words. But the banana in the book has other ideas. He doesn’t want to sleep so he starts crossing out the words on the page and offering his own silly words for each letter, until he is finally lulled to sleep.

Dark on Light

Written by Dianne White and illustrated by Felicita Sala

Follow a group of kids as they wander through nature at night, using their flashlight to bring light to the dark. The rhyming text and dark illustrations offer a soothing and poetic bedtime story as the characters and the house settle down for the night.

Before We Sleep

Written by Girogio Volpe and illustrated by Paolo Proietti

Winter is coming, and while Hazel the dormouse prepares for hibernation, Little Red the fox wishes that they could spend the winter together. As Little Red attempts to come up with ways to hold off the winter, Hazel reminds Little Red that they will always be friends and they will play together after the winter.

Forty Winks

Written by Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated by Lita Judge

This fun bedtime story follows the Wink family as two mouse parents attempt to put their 38 mouse children to bed. Kids will love watching the two parents attempt to bathe, feed, and wrangle 38 kids to bed, just to start the next day all over again.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Kid

Written by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Molly Idle

When a little boy named Clyde wishes on a star, he doesn’t expect that star to come into his room and make a wish on him! But together, can they figure out what each other wished for and make their wishes come true? This is a sweet and imaginative story of friendship, wrapped up in a bedtime story.

Nocturnal Nico

Written by Gabe Jensen

This picture book introduces the concepts of nocturnal and diurnal through the story of a young boy named Nico who doesn’t want to sleep. As Nico roams the house, the text explores the differences between nocturnal and diurnal, while the illustrations show Nico traveling around his house at night alongside nocturnal animals. The back of the book includes more information about nocturnal creatures.

The Moon is Broken

Written by Rory K. Zuckerman and illustrated by Aleksandra Szmidt

When a young boy looks out the window at night from his bed, he is surprised to see that the moon is missing a piece. He is determined to get to the moon and fix it and comes up with all kinds of creative ways to travel there. But in the end, he learns that patience is the only way to see the moon whole again.

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The Midnight Babies

Written by Isabel Greenberg

This fun book follows the Midnight Babies, a group of kids who are trying to stay up until midnight. But as they make their way along their quest, some of them are waylaid by soothing bedtime rituals. Kids will love cheering on the baby characters, and the funny twist ending.

Where the Wee Ones Go

Written by Karen Jameson and illustrated by Zosienka

Join a variety of endangered animals as they cozy up for bedtime in this sweet rhyming story. From pandas in China to polar bears in the Arctic, the rhyming text and adorable illustrations show sleepy animal families preparing for bed together.

The Lights That Dance in the Night

Written by Yuval Zommer

This beautiful book celebrates the beauty of a night in the Arctic and the miraculous sight of the Northern Lights dancing in the skies. The lyrical text comes from the perspective of the lights, soaring through the sky and making animals and people react below.

Star Fishing

Written by Sang-Keun Kim

Join a little kid and a bunch of animals who have trouble sleeping and decide to play among the stars for the night. The imaginative illustrations follow the friends as they sit on the moon and play in the stars until they start to drift off to sleep. This is a fun and peaceful book for lulling little ones to sleep.

Baby, Sleepy Baby

Written by Atinuke and illustrated by Angela Brooksbank

This lyrical lullaby follows a whole family as they sing their beloved baby to sleep. The simple text and soft illustrations are full of beautiful imagery of the night keeping the baby safe, and highlight the love of the family for the sweet baby.

Winter Lullaby

Written by Dianne White and illustrated by Ramona Kaulitzki

Follow a mama bear and her cub as they wander through the woods and watch the seasons change. As animals prepare for winter around them, the mother and cub also prepare for a peaceful winter sleep.

What are your favorite new kids books to read at bedtime? Share them in the comments below!

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