ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Bedtime Storytime Ideas

Updated on February 18, 2012

How often do you have parents come in asking for books about bedtime (while trying not to pull out their hair)? Parents probably don't want to encourage further bedtime antics with the Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. You can suggest any of the following books, but why not use storytime to help show children the positive or lighthearted side of taking a nap or going to bed?

Photo Source

Bed Hogs - by Kelly DiPucchio

BED HOGS
BED HOGS
Little Runt finds it hard to sleep when his pig style's filled with a mama who dances in her sleep, a daddy who snores, a sister who drools all over him when he tries to sleep, another sister who thinks she's a beauty queen and a brother who shakes the style giggling in his sleep. Just how does a little pig get some sleep with all that going on?!?! Visit Kelly DiPucchio's Official Author Website
 

Canadian Lullaby

Traditional Song

Bed is too small for my tired head.

Give me a hilltop with trees.

Tuck a cloud up under my chin.

Now blow the moon out... please.

Diddle Diddle Dumpling

Traditional Rhyme

Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John

Went to bed with his stockings on.

One shoe off. One shoe on.

Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John.

Dinosaur Vs Bedtime - by Bob Shea

Dinosaur vs. Bedtime (A Dinosaur vs. Book, 1)
Dinosaur vs. Bedtime (A Dinosaur vs. Book, 1)
When a little dinosaur battles against a bowls of spaghetti, piles of leaves and talking grown ups, he wins every time. But dinosaur now has to go against his biggest foe ever... bedtime! Dinosaur Vs. Bedtime Online
 

Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late - by Mo Willems

Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!
Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!
The bus driver from Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus needs your help again! The bus driver needs to get ready for bed, but the Pigeon keeps trying to beg to stay up past his bedtime. No matter if he begs for just five more minutes or a glass of water, just tell him NO OK? Did you know the Pigeon has his own website filled with fun stuff just for kids (and a few things for parents and teachers). He even invited his friends Gerald, Piggie, Knuffle Bunny and Edwina, too.
 

Froggy Gets Dressed - by Jonathan London

Froggy Gets Dressed
Froggy Gets Dressed
Frogs are supposed to hybernate in the winter. But when Froggy wakes up and sees piles of snow on the ground, he wants to go out and play! But as Froggy's never been out in the snow before, he forgets to put on some of his clothes... including his underwear. After several trips inside to put on pants, shirt, mittens, hat and more, he finally decides to go back to bed (much to the delight of his exasperated mother).
 

Jack Be Nimble

Traditional Rhyme

Jack be nimble.

Jack be quick.

Jack jump over

The candlestick.

Goodnight, Gorilla - by Peggy Rathmann

Hey Diddle Diddle - Traditional Rhyme

Hey diddle diddle

The cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon,

The little dog laughed to see such sport,

And the dish ran away with the spoon.

How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night - by Jane Yolen

How do dinosaurs go to bed when their parents go to turn off the light? Do they stomp? Throw their teddy bear? Demand yet story? Demand a piggyback ride? Throw temper tantrums?

How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?
How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?
I made a simple dinosaur pants with an attached dino tail when telling Yolen's dino books. With a storytime partner, I act out the "naughty" behaviors (and "good" ones at the end) while my partner reads the book. Children laugh and yell out NO while parents gasp as they see the dinosaur misbehaving. As with after Willems's Pigeon books, it leads to talking about manners after finishing the book. Visit Jane Yolen's Official Author Site
 

Llama Llama Red Pajama - by Anna Dewdney

Llama Llama Red Pajama
Llama Llama Red Pajama
Baby Llama becomes quite distressed when she fears Mama Llama has forgotten all about her in this fun story told in rhyme. Visit Anna Dewdney's Official Author Website
 
llama llama red pajama puppet
llama llama red pajama puppet

I made simple red flannel pajamas for our Folkmanis llama puppet.

Moon Moon Moon - by the Laurie Berkner Band

Mortimer - by Robert Munsch

When Mortimer's mother puts him in bed, she tells him to BE QUIET, however Mortimer can't stay quiet for long. Instead he starts singing his song....

Clang clang rattle bing bang

Gonna make my noise all day!

Clang clang rattle bing bang

Gonna make my noise all day!

So it's put to Mortimer's father to go upstairs and tell Mortimer to BE QUIET. Mortimer promises... but is soon back to singing his song. His seventeen brothers and sisters and even the police try, but Mortimer keeps singing his song. Will Mortimer ever finally fall asleep?

Old Miss O'Leary

Traditional Song

Late one night

When we were all in bed,

Old Miss O'Leary

Took a lantern to the shed.

And when the cow kicked it over,

She winked her eye and said,

"It'll be a hot time

In the old town, tonight."

FIRE, FIRE, FIRE!

Ten in the Bed - Traditional Song

Unless you're a preschool or kindergarten class, this would be hard to do in storytime. But it is fun to use in storytime using either flannel board pieces (use felt monsters, monkeys, people, or whatever you have available) or singing outright.

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star - Traditional Song

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky!

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!

Instead of swaying with the music for this song, try adding a few words of sign language.

Wake Up You Sleepyheads

Traditional Song

Wake up you sleepyheads and

Go and get the cattle,

Wake up you sleepyheads and

Go and get the cows.

The cows are lost.

The sun is warm.

I think I'll rest,

Ttil they come home.

(SNORE)

WAKE UP YOU SLEEPYHEADS!

Way Up in the Sky

Traditional Song

Way up in the sky,

The little birds fly.

While down in the nest,

The little birds rest.

With a wing on their left

And a wing on their right,

The little birds sleep

All through the night.

Shhhh!

(yell) DON'T WAKE UP THE BIRDIES!

Wee Willie Winkie

Traditional Rhyme

Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town,

Upstairs and downstairs in his nightgown,

Knocking at the window and crying through the lock,

Are all the children in their beds, it's past eight o'clock?

What Do You Do With a Sleeping Baby

Piggy Back Song

Tune: What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor?

What do you do with a sleeping baby,

What do you do with a sleeping baby,

What do you do with a sleeping baby,

Early in the morning?

You wake 'em up and shake 'em up,

You wake 'em up and shake 'em up,

You wake 'em up and shake 'em up,

Early in the morning.

As I strongly discourage shaken baby syndrome in storytime, I usually change "baby" to any animals or characters used in the preceding story. Ex. "What do you do with a sleeping Mortimer/Daddy/Mommy/Police Officer...." after telling Munsch's Mortimer.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)