Here are 100 books that Good Night with The Very Hungry Caterpillar fans have personally recommended if you like
Good Night with The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
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I’m a British author for children and young adults and have lost count of the number of books I’ve published. You learn how to write by reading, and I know that I learned to write from the books I loved and read under the blankets with a torch when I’d been told to go to sleep. I think the books I recommend could all teach children a lot about the art of writing—and they would think they were simply enjoying a story!
I have a brother who is fifteen years my junior. When he was small, I often read him stories. One of our shared favourites, read over and over, was Sendak’s Wild Things. It’s a masterpiece.
He usually wrote the text, as well as making the wonderful pictures, and the text is short, simple, rhythmic, and beautiful. Sendak was a poet as well as an artist.
Think about it: a child of five and a young woman of twenty, reading the same book, poring over the illustrations together, and both having a whale of a time.
If you know a child of picture-book age who doesn’t own Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are—buy it for them!
Read-along with the story in this book and CD edition!
One night Max puts on his wolf suit and makes mischief of one kind and another, so his mother calls him 'Wild Thing' and sends him to bed without his supper.
That night a forest begins to grow in Max's room and an ocean rushes by with a boat to take Max to the place where the wild things are. Max tames the wild things and crowns himself as their king, and then the wild rumpus begins.
But when Max has sent the monsters to bed, and everything is quiet,…
I am the author and illustrator of the baby book listed below. As a mom of a 1-year-old, I am no stranger to kids’ books. After 1 year of going through my baby’s bookshelf and finding my own personal favorites, I realized that the common theme amongst all of my favorites is that all my selects happen to rhyme. Therefore, when I set out to write my own book, it was a given that this would be a rhyming story. Since then, I have been reading and researching all of the rhyming books to create my own. After all this research, these top five books are my top picks.
This book is a great way to teach your baby about animals and color identification. It also reminds you and your baby to stop and look around at the world around you. The illustrations are simple but striking for babies. The ending of this book comes together really nicely!
A much-loved classic, illustrated by the creator of The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Vibrant artwork and favourite animals make this rhythmic story the perfect introduction to learning about colours. Each spread leads seamlessly into the next and young children will delight in Eric's colourful collage animals and simple repetitive language.
Discover more books by Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carle:
I began my career as an assistant nursery school teacher when I graduated from college. My head teacher was my mentor. She knew how to engage children with her storytelling. She also managed to inspire children with an enthusiasm for learning. She challenged each child to develop his/her own individual skills. I loved the way she was able to connect with children, and for me, she was the ideal role model. Throughout my teaching career, I tried to connect with the children I taught. My goal was to reach every child, to stimulate their desire for learning, and to help them develop positive self-esteem in a nurturing environment.
Can a Pigeon drive a bus? The bus driver asks the “readers” to say “No”. But the Pigeon keeps trying.
It’s a fun easy read, and the whimsical illustrations make the book memorable for children and help cue the listener's part. I especially like the book because the responsive “No” fully engages children in the story.
When the bus driver decides to take a break from driving, a wild and wacky pigeon pleads and begs to take his place, in a hilarious picture book that perfectly captures a preschooler's temper tantrum.
I began my career as an assistant nursery school teacher when I graduated from college. My head teacher was my mentor. She knew how to engage children with her storytelling. She also managed to inspire children with an enthusiasm for learning. She challenged each child to develop his/her own individual skills. I loved the way she was able to connect with children, and for me, she was the ideal role model. Throughout my teaching career, I tried to connect with the children I taught. My goal was to reach every child, to stimulate their desire for learning, and to help them develop positive self-esteem in a nurturing environment.
Every preschool child loves dinosaurs, and nothing is more exciting and fun than a dinosaur baby saying, “good night”! Laughter abounds when the silly dinosaur says things just like the children hearing the book say when they have to go to bed. The rhymes have a charming flow that keeps the attention of young listeners.
A playful peek into the homes of dinosaur babies and their parents at bedtime!How do dinosaurs say good night?Brimming with humor and familiar good-night antics, here is a playful peek into the homes of dinosaur children and their parents at bedtime. Perfect for sharing and reading aloud, this is one nighttime book your own little dinosaur will want to read again and again.
With three kids, bedtime at my house is usually nuts. When we strike gold with a great bedtime read that’s funny or cozy, or better yet, BOTH, it becomes part of our permanent rotation. I love finding books that make my kids excited about story time (and just maybe encourage them to get through their bedtime routines a little faster). As a children’s picture book author, my own books are inspired by my kids’ everyday lives, and sleep, or lack thereof, is a topic that I always find so very relatable!
I love this book because it’s not your typical sleepy-time bedtime story. It’s silly and loud, with mentions of monster trucks and guitar solos. It might not have my kids yawning, but it will have them excited to read before bed.
If I’m ever struggling to get my kids to bed (so, most nights), reading a fun book like this always helps to get them zipping through their bedtime routines a little faster.
Attention, readers-this book is going to help you fall right asleep! No, seriously. It's going to make you so tired. Monsters crash through the pages! Electric guitars jam out all night! Counting sheep that are being chased by DRAGONS! Are you asleep yet? No? Hmm . . . let's try something else . . .
This hilarious story from #1 New York Times-bestselling author Jory John and acclaimed illustrator Olivier Tallec will show energetic little ones so many different methods of falling asleep that they just might get tired after all!
With our 2.5-year-old we read all the time. She is a great critic, letting us know if the book is to be read ‘again’ or to be put ‘away!’ As well as a PhD in Education, I am also a trained teacher, having worked with preschoolers running Steiner Waldorf inspired parent and child groups and playgroups, so I am fascinated by the power of story. I try and choose books that are inclusive and age-appropriate, keeping the child in a magical space, as well as allowing for lots of laughs! I also love to share books that I am happy to read three times in a row!
Two young children jump out of the bath and run around their home naked until they get dried and dressed in their pyjamas and go off to sleep. We love being ‘nudie nudie’ in our house and the fun rhyming words in this book are regularly recited as we play! We also love the Rudie Nudie Christmas edition that came out in 2020. As someone from the UK living in Australia I love the details in this book that let me know it is set in Australia such as the house having a screen door to keep all those pesky mosquitoes out!
I may not be an expert ornithologist, but I am an avid “birdologist” to borrow a term from Sy Montgomery—one who is awed and fascinated by all things bird. Bird-watching is meditative—it helps me to be present and to feel joyful. I love reading, learning, and writing about birds too! I am the author of these bird books: Hawk Rising, illustrated by Brian Floca, Whoo-Ku Haiku, illustrated by Jonathan Voss, and the forthcoming You and the Bowerbird, illustrated by Maris Wicks. I love writing about the natural world and its inhabitants as well as dogs—another love of mine!
Yolen and Stemple are a mother-daughter dream team duo and creators of many bird books including Yolen’s classic, Owl Moon. This birdy-lullaby has a soothing read-aloud rhythm as a mother tucks her tired nestling-child in bed. She recounts the places where various birds nest, from pigeons on ledges and catbirds in hedges, to owls in oak tree boles and hawks on telephone poles bound by the reassuring refrain, "You nest here with me.” Sweet’s blue-green color palette offers a calming and soporific counterpart and a nod to night-time. Learn more about the featured birds, their diet and nesting habits, and this birding family in the book’s back pages.
Now available in a board book edition, this lyrical bedtime book is an ode to baby birds everywhere and to sleepy children, safe in their beds. As a mother describes how different species of birds nest, secure and cozy with their mama birds, she tucks her own child into bed with the soothing refrain -- "you nest here with me" -- easing her little one and readers alike to slumber. Accompanied by beautiful artwork by award-winning illustrator Melissa Sweet, mother and daughter Jane Yolen and Heidi Stemple have combined their poetry writing and love of birding in this board book…
I chose these books because they each approach big feelings with a kind of gentle honesty and expressive clarity. These classics use powerful, earnest text and heartfelt illustrations that help name, normalize, and, at times, create an adventure around feeling new, big emotions. Each of these treasured titles offers more than just a story—they give children tools for emotional resonance and resilience. They strike a delicate balance between lyrical prose, whimsical art, and emotional honesty. The Mood Swing is a charm bracelet of these different stories, woven into one. Many gave me comfort as a kid, and helped me feel supported and empowered to explore—and name—my deepest feelings.
A nighttime ritual in words and art, Goodnight Moon bathes readers in routine and gentle reassurance.
The lullaby-like text brings peace and a feeling of stability in a turbulent world.
This book shows how small, predictable patterns can calm strong feelings, helping children to explore big emotions inside a cozy, secure emotional bubble. It’s perfect for bedtime or whenever little hearts need grounding.
A beautiful anniversary edition of the classic bedtime story with shiny gold cover flourishes - the perfect gift for christenings and birthdays.
Featuring a look at the fascinating story behind the creation of one of the most famous children's books in the world, beloved by Michelle Obama and Neil Gaiman alike, as well as tips on how to get your child to sleep.
In a great green room a little bunny is tucked up snugly and safely in bed and is getting ready to say goodnight to all the familiar things in his room, one by one.
As a mom of young kids who love animals, I know firsthand the benefit of finding fun books that are also easy to read, fun to look at, and short enough not to make you flinch when your kids pull them off the shelves during those later bedtime nights.
A companion book to Sunrise Dance, this interactive lift-the-flap book will entertain young readers as they read along during a midnight dance in a meadow, and all the animals that come and join the fun. Kids will love making the animals dance along by moving the flaps, plus it’s short enough for when you need that super quick read before a late bedtime.
In this sweet and interactive bedtime read-aloud-with the rollicking rhyme of Sandra Boynton's Barnyard Dance! and the bedtime themes of Sleep Like A Tiger by Mary Logue-young readers can make skunks scamper and possums prance with each push of a durable novelty element.
When you rest your head at night, nocturnal animals awake to dance and play! Push and pull the sturdy tabs to make foxes frolic and hedgehogs hustle in this sweet, interactive tale of nighttime fun.
A charming and interactive bedtime read-aloud, young children will delight in moving the durable novelty elements, making the illustrations transform through their…
As a mom of young kids who love animals, I know firsthand the benefit of finding fun books that are also easy to read, fun to look at, and short enough not to make you flinch when your kids pull them off the shelves during those later bedtime nights.
This gentle rhyming book is the perfect book for your child and their best stuffy friend to read just before they drift off to sleep. The imaginative watercolor pictures will stick with you, and children will love finding how each child’s BFFs find their way into dreamland. Bonus? The book is short enough for a quick bedtime story, but has enough of a story for you to read it over and over without making you feel tired, too!
Take a bedtime journey with the New York Times bestselling author of The Wonderful Things You Will Be and discover the adventures that await while you dream!
You only have to close your eyes And when you snuggle in…. You’ll be carried to your dream tonight On wing or paw or fin
Snuggle into bed and discover what your dream animal might be and where it could take you! Could it be a bear who brings you to bake pastries? A fox who ushers you into a magical forest? Mermaids with whom you can sip tea?
