A Child's Good Night Book

Celebrated children's author Margaret Wise Brown, creator of such childhood classics as Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny, here delivers a sweet little bedtime tale, one which will lull little children to sleep with its gentle text and charming artwork. As night comes on, the book presents little children with a series of animals who seek their rest, from sleepy sheep to sleepy pussycats, culminating with children who say their prayers and go to bed. The book concludes with a little prayer: "Dear Father, hear and bless / Thy beasts and singing birds, / And guard with tenderness / Small things that have no words."

Chosen as a Caldecott Honor Book in 1944 - other titles to be selected that year include Small Rain: Verses from the Bible, show more Pierre Pidgeon, The Mighty Hunter and Good Luck Horse - this little book has lots of quiet appeal. The text is repetitive but engaging, slowly building up the sense of sleepiness with each scene, and the lithograph artwork is charming. The picture of the sleeping pussycats was particularly adorable! With the caveat that non-religious families will want to be aware that this book closes with a prayer, and make their decisions about reading it accordingly, I recommend A Child's Good Night Book to those looking for bedtime books for little ones. show less

Read on openlibrary. Not sure why, but something didn't work for me. No arc, and of course since we're atheists the ending doesn't wrap things up for us, so it's just a simple chant. The illustrations have a certain charm, but as far as I can tell from the scanned copy, they don't quite work for me either. Oh well.

A perfect bedtime book. However it does have a little prayer at the end and a couple of illustrations at the end that include angels, so if you don't want that I wouldn't recommend this book. But I was surprised by how much I enjoy reading it and by how much my toddler likes listening to it.

A Caldecott Honor book that has loving phrases and sentences to paint a picture of everything settling down, quieting through the night in preparation for the release that sleep brings.

Summary:
Nighttime is coming. All of the animals and children are getting ready to sleep. Every animal and child gets ready for bed. They all fall fast asleep.
Personal Reaction:
I love how this book describes all of the different activities that every animal does just before they go to sleep. The illustrations and descriptions of the animals winding down for sleep came across to me as really believable. I was actually able to picture real life animals doing these activities before going to sleep.
Classroom Extension Ideas:
1.
This book would work well if read to students after recess or a very energetic activity. However, this book should only be read by the teacher to students if they needed to clam down.
2.
This book gives a great show more description of several animals and activities that they do everyday, so it would be great if it were used to expand on or explore further any one of the many animals that are mentioned. show less

Summary: This book gives a variety of animals and objects that are getting ready to sleep and where they sleep at. It shows the animals asleep, and at the end it gives the parent a small prayer to either recite to their children or children could read with their parents. This book is also a Caldecott Honor Book. It has an excellent illustrations that show the students in a cartoon like picture.

Personal Beliefs: This was one of my first books that was read to me by my mother and though it is worn, tattered and went through 4 kids, it is still a treasure in my heart. This is one of my first few books that I had a chance to read to my mother.

Extension: This book can be used to show how different animal sleep and where they fall asleep. show more This could be used to show what type of animal sleep in different environments and allow the students to draw another animal and how/where they sleep. This book can be used to help students who are having trouble sleeping or those who are not those who like to fall asleep quickly. show less

This is a book that can be used in a private school setting because of the use of religion. It would need to be used in a pre-school because of the level of reading. However, it would be good to use for tier 2 and tier 3 words. A young audience would enjoy this book before their nap time. The book describes various animals and their nighttime routine. The author website is http://www.margaretwisebrown.com/. The website highlights the author's life story, her books, her contact information, and a section for educators and students.