bedtime – Page 4 – Mom Read It

Early Reader, Fiction, Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Blog Tour: Race Car Dreams by Sharon Chriscoe!

Posted on September 7, 2016September 7, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

A race car finishes his race and gets ready for bed in this adorable rhyming bedtime story. Going through his nighttime rituals: he washes his rims, fills his tummy with oil, and heads to the library for a book to snuggle down with for the night. It’s a story that’s just perfect for bedtime, as my 4 year-old will gladly attest to; it’s entered our nightly reading routine, and the gentle rhyme and bright but subdued, kid-friendly art is a lovely transition from go-go-go running around all day to slowing down and getting ready for bed.

The endpapers bring us into and lead us out of the story with black and white checkered flag; in auto racing, it’s the checkered flag that waves when the winner has crossed the finish line; it’s a fun fact to add to a storytime and it adds both to the beginning and end settings for the story.

Cars fans, racing fans, boys and girls alike will enjoy this sweet bedtime story. I love that the race car snuggled down on its own with a good book, showing that while snuggle time with Mom or Dad is great, you can also be perfectly content to cuddle up with a night time read all on your own.

Is your little one a fan of “just one more book” at bedtime like mine is? Add Sherri Duskey Rinker’s Steam Train, Dream Train to the reading rotation for another rhyming dream story.

You can pick up a copy of Race Car Dreams for your little racer on September 13th. It’s available via Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or IndieBound. Support your local libraries and borrow it, too! Don’t forget to add it to your GoodReads!

Make sure to visit more stops on the RACE CAR DREAMS blog tour!

9/6 My Word Playground

9/7 MomReadIt

9/8 Unleashing Readers

9/9 Once Upon a Time…

9/10 Stacking Books

9/11 Geo Librarian

9/12 Flowering Minds

9/13 Unpacking the POWER of Picture Books

9/14 Little Crooked Cottage

9/14 MamaBelly

9/15 #kidlit Book of the Day

9/16 Just Kidding

Animal Fiction, Early Reader, Fiction, Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Good night, Moon! Max at Night

Posted on July 25, 2016July 23, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Max at Night, by Ed Vere (Sept. 2016, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky), $16.99, ISBN: 9781492632962

Recommended for ages 2-5

I love, love, LOVE Ed Vere’s Max the Brave, so I was insanely excited to see Max at Night show up on NetGalley. I immediately curled up with my 4 year-old and caught up with Max.

Max was very brave when we last met him, but now it’s night time and he has to go to bed. He goes through his night time routine, that all kids will recognize: drinking his milk, brushing his teeth, cleaning behind his ears, saying good night to the moon… but wait! Where is the moon? He can’t see the moon, so Max goes on a quest to find the moon, climbing higher and higher and wishing everything he encounters a good night. Will he find the moon? Come on, I can’t spoil this book, you have to find out on your own!

Max is still adorable, and Max at Night is essential bedtime reading for parents and kids alike. It’s a sweet story that will gently rock you to sleep as you read along. The colors are stunning: deep reds and blues, bright yellows, and Max’s black form pops off the page. My kiddo loved this book, and insisted we re-read Max the Brave and Max at Night, one after the other, to recreate a whole day with Max. What a great idea, right?

Pair this book with Kevin Henkes’ Kitten’s First Full Moon and you’re set for bedtime. Add Eric Carle’s Papa Get the Moon for Me, and you’ve got a Moon storytime that the kids will love.

Want a peek at Max at Night? You know you do! Go to Ed Vere’s website and see for yourself.

Animal Fiction, Early Reader, Fiction, Preschool Reads

Trudy the Tree Frog tries out a new bed

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Trudy the Tree Frog, by Jennifer Keats Curtis/Illustrated by Laura Jacques (Nov. 20015, Schiffer Publishing), $16.99, ISBN: 9780764349973

Recommended for ages 4-8

A plucky little tree frog decides to broaden her horizons, but learns that the grass isn’t always greener – and the bed isn’t always more comfortable – on the other side in this rhyming bedtime tale.

Trudy the Tree Frog is just about to get comfy in her tree, among her leaves, and fall asleep for the night, when she has an idea. She leaps onto the window of the house next to her tree and gazes in at a little girl who has a bunk bed all to herself. That bed looks so comfortable and soft! Trudy begins croaking and trilling, begging to be let in; not wanting to wake her family, the little girl obliges. Once inside, Trudy discovers that the bed really isn’t comfortable for a frog: she’s sticking to everything! The bed’s too big! She starts to cry again – but this time, she wakes up Daddy! Can Dad and the little girl get Trudy back to her tree so she can sleep?

This is a good bedtime story: it rhymes and has a definite cadence to it when read out loud. Kids may recognize themselves in Trudy, who’s satisfied with what she has until she thinks someone else has it better – and then she finds out that what makes one person happy is subjective; it may not work for another. Trudy happily ends up back where she belongs, and makes a new friend in the process.

Both the author and award-winning illustrator have a wealth of wildlife/environmental storytelling experience. Readers will learn a little bit about tree frog habitats and behaviors, and the illustrations clearly show Trudy’s sticky foot pads and tongue, and how that presents a bit of a problem for sleeping in a bed, but how it would be a big help to sleeping in a tree. The color scheme is perfect for a bedtime story, with sedate, deep blues and purples, and low yellows for the lights. Bold, black, decorative font adds a whimsical touch to storytelling and reading.

I read this story to my toddler storytime class and they really enjoyed it! They loved seeing Trudy leap and the parents got a kick out of learning about her tussle with the bed, too.

A sweet addition to bedtime story collections and nature-centric collections.

Animal Fiction, Preschool Reads

Storytime: Dinosaurs!

Posted on July 21, 2014July 21, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

This is a short storytime I did at for my preschool classes. Because this was a week where they had library time, I only read one story and sang one song, but the kids loved the story!

It’s hard to go wrong with How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? by Jane Yolen/illustrated by Mark Teague. The kids were largely unfamiliar with the book, so they really got a kick out of seeing the dinos storm and stomp and pout and, ultimately, kiss Mama and Papa good night. I gave everyone a fun coloring sheet from Twisty Noodle, and we were off to the library!

We also sang a fun song about dinosaurs, to the tune of Ten Little Indians:

10 Big Dinosaurs

1 big, 2 big, 3 big dinosaurs,
4 big, 5 big, 6 big dinosaurs,
7 big, 8 big, 9 big dinosaurs,
10 big dinosaurs!

There are great dinosaur songs on the Bry-Back Manor blog!

Toddler Reads

The Bunnies Are Not in Their Beds: A Book About Not Going to Sleep.

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Bunnies Are Not in Their Beds, by Marisabina Russo (Dragonfly, 2013), ISBN: 978-0307981264
Recommended for ages 3 – 7

It’s bedtime for three bunny siblings. Mama and Daddy put them to bed, and settle in to have some relaxing time together, when all sorts of noises erupt from the baby bunnies’ room! Mama and Daddy go up to check and discover that the bunnies are not in their beds – they’re playing! Will Mama and Daddy ever get the bunnies to go to sleep for the night?

The book is perfect for a preschool age group, who will identify with the young bunnies. Parents and caregivers will see themselves in the tired, near-exasperated parents, who hear a ruckus every time they put the bunnies to bed and start to relax. The story itself is perfect for a fun read-aloud; there is repetition and fun noises that make the story interactive: the parents saying, “good night, good night, sleep tight”, and the bunnies playful chaos: clips and clops, zooms and vrooms, and clashes and smashes give listeners a chance to jump up and act out the post-bedtime play.

The soft, gouache art lends itself to a relaxing atmosphere that allows the children to focus on the characters – a quiet bedtime read – and bold, big text for the bunnies play allows the reader to punch up the story for a more playful reading. Ms. Russo’s use of collage adds another dimension of fun to the artwork.

The author’s website offers contact information and information about her books.

This would be a great addition to a read-aloud about bedtime; I can see it being paired with a book like Jane Yolen’s How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? or Mercer Mayer’s Little Critter story, Just Go to Sleep. Allow listeners to jump around until they get themselves ready for nap time (and the caregivers will likely be grateful!). There are many songs and fingerplays about bedtime available online.

Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Book Review: How Do You Sleep, by Louise Bonnet-Rampersaud (Marshall Cavendish Children, 2005)

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Recommended for ages 2-4

Different animals answer the question of how they sleep in rhyme. Children conclude the story by describing how they sleep.

This is a rhyming story about how different creatures sleep, ranging from birds to frogs to human children. The pace is soothing and repetitive: one spread asks the question, “How do you sleep?” and a different animal answers on the next. The realistic pictures of animals (and children) are rendered in oil paintings, and makes for a read-aloud that will keep viewers and listeners interested with the large and small details: the flowers on the branches where a bird sits; the mouse sitting on a bell hook in the pig sty; the cozy bed the children sit in, listening to their father read them a bedtime story. The font is a larger version of a standard one, similar to Times Roman, but it does not need to capture the reader here – the story is in the pictures. There is a board book version of this available for younger audiences.

This is a great story to build on for a bedtime read-aloud. Encourage audiences to wear their favorite pajamas and bring a beloved toy. There are bedtime songs like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Star Light, Star Bright that would work well here.

The author does not appear to have her own website, but her publisher offers a link to her other book and offers the chance to sign up for updates.

Toddler Reads, Uncategorized

Book Review: How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? by Jane Yolen/Illus. Mark Teague (Blue Sky Press, 2000)

Posted on May 4, 2013 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Recommended for ages 2-5

Do dinosaurs really act up when it’s bedtime? A host of dinosaurs, acting much like preschoolers, react to bedtime and show readers how a dinosaur should say good night.

Dinosaurs are a popular topic among young audiences, and these dinosaurs, loaded with personality, will connect with young readers. Young audiences will see themselves reflected in the dinosaurs and how they approach bedtime. The earthy, colorful paintings offer varying perspectives – some dinosaurs are viewed from up high, some tower over everything around them – and multicultural families will appeal to all families. Dinosaur names are cleverly offered in each room, providing the chance for a fun name hunt. The endpapers illustrate all the dinosaurs found in the story, along with their names.

This is a great story for either a dinosaur-related read-aloud or a bedtime tale, where children and parents/guardians can talk about how they good night in their homes. There are numerous bedtime songs and fingerplays to use in conjunction with the book, and Massachusetts Honor Books offers a fun activity where children can write down “good night” in different languages, posting them on a map of the world.

The book has received numerous accolades, including the ALA Notable Children’s Books: 2001, Colorado: Children’s Book Award Nominees: 2002, Helbie Award: 2001, Maryland: Children’s Book Award Honors: 2003, Missouri: Building Block Picture Book Award Nominees: 2001, Nevada: Young Readers’ Award Nominees: 2003, Tennessee: Volunteer State Book Award Nominees: 2003, Texas: and the 2×2 Reading List: 2001.

The author’s website offers information about her other books, book trailers, and resources for teachers and storytellers. The How Do Dinosaurs series includes How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?, How Do Dinosaurs Go To School?, and How Do Dinosaurs Play With Their Friends?