Reasons to Read Your Child a Bedtime Story

Few things are as comforting at the end of a long day as curling up with your child and their favourite story. Bedtime stories don’t just signal it’s time to sleep – they create precious moments, spark young minds, and leave lasting memories.

Rewild the World at Bedtime is a beautiful keepsake collection of calming wildlife stories to read at bedtime, for children to learn about projects that are rewilding the world with animals, and saving our planet.

From Colombia to Indonesia, 40,000 unique species are threatened with extinction, and it’s never been a better time to teach children of the power of conservation.

This enchanting read soothes little ones with 20 stories about nature healing itself, when animals are returned to their natural habitats, without human interference. The animals re-wilded include:

• Eurasian beavers (reintroduced to Devon rivers)
• Endangered tigers (saved with animal dung stoves in Nepal)
• Peaceful water buffalos (part of a Ukrainian restoration project)
• Adorable lynx (released from captivity in the Iberian Peninsula)
• Majestic humpback whales (banned from being hunted)

Emily Hawkins was once a children’s book editor and now writes books herself. She holds a first-class degree from Nottingham University, and lives in Winchester.

The Benefits of Reading Bedtime Stories 

Reading to your child before bed packs a powerful punch. Research highlights a clear link between regular bedtime stories and improved language and reading skills.

Children who hear stories nightly build stronger vocabularies and better listening skills. These gains often carry over into school, making learning easier.

Emotionally, bedtime stories do more than teach words. They help children make sense of their feelings and the world.

Stories offer a safe way to explore worries, laugh together, and see how characters solve problems.

How to Choose the Right Bedtime Story

Not every story fits every child or mood. The trick is finding books that match your child’s age and interests. For toddlers, bold illustrations and rhymes work well. For older children, look for simple chapter books or fairy tales with gentle plots.

Quick tips for choosing bedtime books:

• Check the age range on the cover.
• Use your local library staff for suggestions.
• Look for stories with calming endings.
• Choose books with bright pictures for younger ones.
• Let your child help pick the evening’s book.

Creating a Calming Atmosphere

Lighting matters. Soften the brightness with a bedside lamp or night light. Clean up toys and distractions so the focus is on your time together.

Set a routine – maybe it’s a bath, then pyjamas, then story. Try to read at the same time each evening so your child knows what to expect. Bring a soft blanket or favourite toy into the reading space to help them feel secure.

When Your Child Doesn’t Want a Story

Some nights, your child might resist reading. Maybe they’re tired, restless, or just not in the mood. Instead of forcing it, offer a choice – would they like a short poem or song instead? Sometimes, flipping through the pictures without reading the whole text is enough.

Keep sessions short if your child’s attention fades quickly. Praise small steps, and keep things positive. If they latch onto just one story for weeks, let them enjoy it. Familiar tales bring comfort, and repetition helps with learning.

Try making storytime the highlight of the evening. Even on difficult days, a simple cuddle and a calm voice can work wonders.

A Trilogy of Nature Bedtime Stories

Secrets of the Stars offers beautifully illustrated bedtime stories in this charming anthology of creatures that are guided by the light of the moon, when we are all asleep.

Based on real biology, meet a lost wolf pup who finds his way back to the pack, and a flying fox who goes for a midnight swim.

Children will be thrilled to meet the pineapplefish (whose mouth as a built-in torch) and marvel at dung beetles, who navigate by looking at the stars!

Other stories feature American alligators, wombats, snowy owls, bushbabies, flying frogs, luna moths and even a rat making his way across a sleeping city.

Also read Secrets of the Forest which features stories of elephants, wild cats, pangolins, badgers, foxes, monarch butterflies, otters, walking fish, penguins and a tree that can live for thousands of years.

Secrets of the Oceans features stories of swimming iguanas, diving penguins, deep-sea anglerfish, albatrosses in love, leaping dolphins, sleepy dugongs, majestic whales, hungry sea turtles, ancient sharks and marching crabs!

Pam Ayres’ Bedtime Story Nature Books

I Am Oliver the Otter is one of the new books by popular poet Pam Ayres, who seems to have ventured into now writing books for children and on animal welfare.

This book takes children down to the river bank to find an otter who is swimming and scampering until the twisty-rooted waterways. Until one day amid the green rushes, he meets an otter called Ottilie, and his life changes forever.

I Am Emily the Owl follows a barn owl’s extraordinary journey through her life in the fields, looking for a new home since the loss of her cherished barn.

Learn how these graceful birds hunt for voles and mice, to take back to owlets in their cherished sanctuaries. Beautifully illustrated by Nicola O’Byrne.  Includes an information spread on owls.

I Am Hattie the Hare is the third book in the series, learning about hares that travel miles to find home in the British countryside, from grape green meadows to old-fashioned farms. All in Pam’s unique rhymes. Learn what hares eat, where their perfect habitats are and how to tell them apart from rabbits!

I Am Dandy the Dormouse is publishing soon!

A Calming Book of Bedtime Blessings

Blessings for Bedtime is a calming and joyful prose collection for the over-stimulated child. Bedtime can now be a time of peace and relaxation, also for parents. Organised by four seasons, the book offers night-time stories to inspire children to sleep well.

Empower children to feel safe, whilst building an emotionally healthy relationship. Whether you read one blessing to your child at night or many, you’ll both end the day with love and light. Take a peak at a few of the powerful blessings inside:

No more work and no more play, ended is the lovely day. In the night sky, stars are twinkling. To their homes mice are creeping. Your bed is made and ready for sleeping. Good night, my love, good night!

Dear Sun and Moon and Stars, bless my little one. May (they) sleep in peaceful dreams, all night long. And in the morning, let (them) wake with a smile, ready to greet the new day.

Beautifully designed and carefully organised, this lovely bedtime book has soothing illustrations of seasonal and nature imagery.