I could take or leave most of the bedtime routine. Brushing teeth, requests for water, putting a preschooler back in his bed eleventy-million times… no thanks. But bedtime stories?! Oh, how I love a good bedtime story!
Since I have four sons, naturally I’ve become a bit of an expert on the best bedtime stories for boys. If you’re looking for a book that makes a great nighttime read, these are five of our favorites!
(A quick note: I bet there are so many girls who will love these bedtime books too. I just don’t have any of those.)
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The best bedtime stories for boys
Can You Snore Like a Dinosaur?
This is one of my favorites because it’s both interactive and relaxing. The entire book prompts the listener to do things like a dinosaur – and those things are geared toward winding down for bed. For example, “Can you stretch like a…” or “Can you snuggle like a…” Super cute.
Plus, it’s about dinosaurs, which is an obvious hit when you’re talking about bedtime stories for boys.
(There’s actually a whole bunch of sleep-expert-commentary written on the book jacket about how it’s supposed to be helpful for putting your child to bed. Honestly, I don’t care about any of that, but it’s a cool bonus I guess.)
This bedtime favorite came to us by way of my aunt, who spent her entire career as a kindergarten teacher. (This is the same aunt that sent me most of the gems on my list of the best read aloud picture books. She never steers us wrong in the book department!)
I Don’t Want To Go To Sleep (and really, what little boy does?)
The title alone should make it clear why this book is such a great bedtime story for little boys. I can’t count the number of conversations I’ve had over the years that revolve around “I’m not tired,” “I don’t need to sleep,” or some other variation of denial.
(In fact, there’s an entire post of funny bedtime memes dedicated to our household’s bedtime shenanigans)
In this story, a little frog has no desire for sleep and he makes it known far and wide. The illustrations are cute and colorful and the story is funny. Your kids will love this bedtime story!
Another thing that’s nice about this one is there’s a whole line of these frog books. And they all feature common kid complaints in a funny way (like, “There’s Nothing To Do!”). You can check out the whole line of the funny frog books here.
Where The Wild Things Are (A bedtime story classic for the parents!)
This story is a classic and I love it because it brings back fond memories of my own childhood. My little brother LOVED this story, so it was a regular feature in our bedtime story rotation.
The story is cute and the pictures are fun. I think you can’t go wrong with this one.
(Plus, there’s a movie about it now. I haven’t seen it yet, but at some point, I do plan to show it to my boys.)
Don’t Wake The Dragon
This story follows a similar model as Can You Snore Like a Dinosaur? in that it’s very interactive. In an effort not to wake a sleeping dragon, your kids will turn the pages very slowly or rock the book from side to side.
The illustrations are bright and colorful, which I think is a must for a good children’s story (you can actually see a lot of the pages really clearly here in the preview pictures of this listing).
Spoiler alert: at the end, when the whole kingdom is ready for bed, the dragon wakes up. What parent can’t relate to that little dilemma?!
Ten Minutes to Bed Little Monster! (A bedtime countdown story for boys — or girls!)
This book is obviously well-themed for a bedtime story. The whole book is based on a ten-minute countdown until bedtime (which, as a bonus, reinforces the skill of counting backward).
As you go through the story, the reader wonders whether the character will actually make it to bed in time.
The character in this version is Little Monster, but this book is actually part of an entire series. The original was Ten Minutes to Bed Little Unicorn, but my boys have never expressed an interest in unicorns, sadly. There’s a whole bunch of different variations.
Bonus bedtime story: How Do Dinosaurs Go To Sleep?
Okay, I know I said this list would be about five books, and I didn’t really want to add another dinosaur book to the mix. But then I thought about how much my preschool son likes this bedtime story and I do too.
He likes it because of the dinosaurs and the rhyming. I like it because it’s BLESSEDLY SHORT. Sorry, but sometimes you just don’t have the stamina (or the patience!) for a long story at bedtime!
(There’s another one in this series we love for all the same reasons: How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? )
Bedtime stories are such a sweet, fun way to end the day together.
Plus, there’s actual research that shows bedtime stories, over time, will actually help your child settle into sleep.
I hope you and your boy(s) enjoy these awesome bedtime books!