As any experienced parent will know, when you are choosing a book for a child that is anywhere between toddler age and early elementary school age to read before bedtime, you want to make sure that you are choosing the best type of book that you can to help lul them to sleep.

We've all been there before - 'one more story', 'again, again!', 'that book was too short'... sound familiar?! Of course, it does!

The bottom line here is, if you don't want to be up all night reading page after page of rubbish to your kids in the hope that they eventually start to drift off, then you need to ensure that you're picking up the right sort of book from the shelf at bedtime.

Fortunately for all of you new or not yet experienced parents & guardians, there are many recommendations of fantastic and effective books for kids when it comes to bedtime reading...

Here are our top five tips for making sure that you're on the right track for some peace & quiet, and heaven forbid a little bit of adult time in the evenings...

1. A Book For Kids That Is Not Too Stimulating Is The Best Choice For Bedtime Reading!


Now let's be honest, we've all made this mistake before! Many of you will already know from past experience that this is one of the biggest rookie mistakes when it comes to bedtime stories...

Just imagine it - the last thing you will want to do is read a bedtime story to your kid that's going to stimulate their mind. You don't want to read your child a book that will make him or her think too much, e.g. a book with multiple interesting characters, or some sort of adventure story that involves a lot of activity in the plot!

It comes as no surprise that these sorts of books will usually cause your child's mind to race, which will ultimately prevent them from drifting off to sleep, and in turn, prevent you from having that glass of wine & late-night Netflix for an hour!

2. Rhyming Books For Kids Are Ideal


Another good thing to keep in mind when choosing a bedtime story to read to your child is how wordy the book in question is...

It's no well-kept secret that when you say a phrase over and over again in your head, that it will eventually make you sleepy, no matter what age you are! Especially if they are rhyming.

This means that reading books to your kids that involve rhymes, such as the well known, timeless books by Dr. Suess, make ideal bedtime stories.

Try to remember to encourage your kid to read along with the rhymes with you as well. That will most definitely get them tired out quickly! You can thank us later for that tip!

3. Educational Books For Kids Are Not Ideal For Bedtime


The third key point to keep in mind when carefully selecting your bedtime story is to ensure that it's not complex...

Now don't get us wrong here, educational books for kids are most definitely recommended as a part of their general reading, for a whole host of different reasons. First and foremost, educational books will teach kids about the world around them, and will only help to enhance their academic and problem-solving skills as well.

However, studies have shown that educational books are not recommended to be read at bedtime. This is for the key reason that they will cause the chid's mind to race. Learning is too stimulating an experience for any young mind right before bed, in the same way that stories with very active plots are.

That being said, this means the educational books that you may have purchased for your kids can be ready and waiting for them to read after they wake up in the morning. That'll certainly help get their minds stimulated for the day!

4. Books For Kids With Calming Illustrations Are Helpful


The next important point to take note of is to really think about what the storybook in question is like visually...

The bottom line here is that you don't want your kids to have active minds at night right before bed, right? Right! And so it makes sense that children's books that have calming and pretty illustrations are a good choice for bedtime reading, verses books that have intense and overstimulating artwork and drawings inside.

The great thing about books with relaxing images is that kids can enjoy looking at the pictures from the book, while still allowing their minds to drift off into a calming state.

5. Books For Kids About Bedtime Are The Best Types For Bedtime Reading


Finally, our last and fifth tip for choosing the top bedtime story for your kids is to consider the topic of the book in question, more specifically, is it related to sleeping?!

We all know that one of the things that kids love most is to mimic what others are doing. This why the most ideal books for kids to be read at bedtime involve sleep and, well, bedtime!

Examples of those books would be Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann and of course the well-known Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown which are for younger kids. So there you have it! Try to keep in mind that books for kids about bedtime and sleeping are generally the best choices.

The overall takeaway point here is that the ideal book to read to your kids at bedtime must be calming and relaxing, otherwise, you'll have no hope in heaven of some peace and quiet for the night!

If you're still not sure about which specific titles might be best for your child, or if you're just in need of some inspiration, then make sure you take a look here! books for kids to read before they go to bed