10 Great Bedtime Stories for Little Boys
If there is one thing we love, it’s a good bedtime story! I’ve been reading books to Bug at bedtime for longer than he remembers. I started reading him books before he was big enough to even know what was going on. It’s a nightly tradition that I hope lasts a long time. He’s 6 now and sometimes HE reads a bedtime story to ME. That hurts my heart a little. But I still get bedtime snuggles even if he is doing the reading.
Reading to your kids is so very important and I feel like reading to boys is even more important because they are less inclined to be drawn to books. I’m blessed that Bug loves books so much. I would like to think I had a part in making him that way because of our nights spent reading together.
We’ve read a lot of great books over the years – many of them countless times! This is by no means meant to be a complete list of books for boys – not even a list of all the books we love – but the top 10 for settling down for bedtime. We love the silly, funny, laugh out loud, books too – but these books are perfect for bedtime – not to mention they feature things that keep boys attention like trucks, trains, pirates and more.
And they are in no particular order. This post contains affiliate links – it helps me keep my site going. Click on any title or book cover and you’ll be taken to Amazon where you can get the book for yourself or see more about it.
As the sun sets behind the big construction site, all the hardworking trucks get ready to say goodnight. One by one, Crane Truck, Cement Mixer, Dump Truck, Bulldozer, and Excavator finish their work and lie down to rest—so they’ll be ready for another day of rough and tough construction play! With irresistible artwork by best-selling illustrator Tom Lichtenheld and sweet, rhyming text, this book will have truck lovers of all ages begging for more
Bug just got this one for Christmas and we’ve already ready it a dozen times or so!
The team behind the #1 New York Times bestseller Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site returns with another fabulous book for bedtime! The dream train pulls into the station, and one by one the train cars are loaded: polar bears pack the reefer car with ice cream, elephants fill the tanker cars with paints, tortoises stock the auto rack with race cars, bouncy kangaroos stuff the hopper car with balls. Sweet and silly dreams are guaranteed for any budding train enthusiasts!
We actually got this one before Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site. It was trains so I knew Bug would be all over it. He liked it so much it prompted our purchase of the construction site one.
One night, young Tom is awoken by noises outside his house. He peeps out of the window and what should he see but pirates. And stranger still—they’re girl pirates stealing the front of his house! Tom joins their pirate adventure across the high seas to an island where some rather lazy and silly grown-up pirates are guarding their treasure, but not very successfully. Tom and the girl pirates make a surprise attack and are soon off on the seas once more with the treasure!
This one is a little goofy and nonsensical but it’s about pirates so it was an instant hit and we like it.
All aboard! The Goodnight Train is full of coal and leaving town. Rhythmic prose and playful illustrations create a gentle, whizzing journey where animals and little ones fluff their pillows and settle in for a clickety-clackity, rock-and-roll ride to Dreamland. A remarkable rhyming bedtime treat!
Again, trains – that makes this one an instant hit! But it is fun to read and very soothing for bedtime.
Presented in blocks of brilliant colors, the multihued train in this Caldecott Honor book undertakes a dazzling journey before disappearing from the final page.
This one is a classic and it’s about trains (I know, I know, we have a theme going on here). But it’s soothing. It’s great for bedtime.
George is so excited about reading Chicken Little, the new book from the library! But when George goes to sleep, he dreams that the sky is falling, just like in his book! What is a woken-up little monkey to do in the middle of the night? Ask for another story, jump on the bed, drink some warm milk? With the help of the man with the yellow hat and a telescope, he finds a starry solution that will turn his scary dreams into sweet dreams.
Curious George as always been a favorite but this story is especially good for bedtime!
Full of delightful comedy and high drama, this tale of a brave family’s joyous romp through sweeping landscapes is sure to win new fans.
Snuggle up for an adventure with this book. It’s fun but the repetitive stanzas are great for bedtime.
Otis is a special tractor. He loves his farmer and he loves to work. And he loves the little calf in the next stall, whom he purrs to sleep with his soft motor. In fact, the two become great friends: they play in the fields, leap hay bales, and play ring-around-the-rosy by Mud Pond. But when Otis is replaced with the big yellow tractor, he is cast away behind the barn, unused, unnoticed . . . until the little calf gets stuck in Mud Pond. Then there is only one tractor—and it’s not big or yellow—who can come to the rescue. It is little old Otis who saves his friend. It is Otis who saves the day.
This is one we just recently got too. We’ve only read it once or twice but it’s a good book. It’s a relaxing story and Otis the tractor is sure to attract the attention of your little guy – as does anything with wheels. :)
Miss Merriweather, the head librarian, is very particular about rules in the library. No running allowed. And you must be quiet. But when a lion comes to the library one day, no one is sure what to do. There aren’t any rules about lions in the library. And, as it turns out, this lion seems very well suited to library visiting. His big feet are quiet on the library floor. He makes a comfy backrest for the children at story hour. And he never roars in the library, at least not anymore. But when something terrible happens, the lion quickly comes to the rescue in the only way he knows how.
This one has been a favorite for a while! It’s a bit lengthier than our typical bedtime store but Bug has liked it since before I thought he was able to sit still for a story of that length. We both just love this story! And the idea of a lion in a library is bound to intrigue all little boys.
The old wizard has asked the dragons to take care of his cats for a few days. There’s just one problem: they can’t read the wizard’s instructions! The dragons make their best guesses. They take the cats swimming and camping, with hilarious results. Of course, it’s up to the Good Knight to come to the rescue in his funniest outing yet.
This is another long-time favorite. Another lengthy one that I didn’t know Bug was capable of sitting through from as young as 2 years old, but it has always held his attention. Dragons, a wizard, a knight and a houseful of cats – what fun!
Again, this is just a fraction of the books we love but these would qualify as my 10 favorite bedtime stories that appeal to little boys.
What would you add to this list?
Follow Me!