We received a treasure of a book in the mail box the other day. Scholastic sent us Mem Fox’s newest book, Good Night Sleep Tight, illustrated by Judy Horacek. Mem Fox and Judy Horacek have teamed up before for Where Is the Green Sheep?

Good Night Sleep Tight is the story of a babysitter putting a brother and a sister to bed. Sammi loves when we’re visiting Brent’s sister and they do something together. She always comments, “A brother and a sister!” She gets a lot of joy out of those sibling relationships. Back to the brother and the sister from this story. The babysitter tells them familiar nursery rhymes. Then they ask to hear it again and instead he tells them another.

The rhymes are delightfully illustrated and we usually pause to enjoy the pictures, talk about the rhyme or do any actions that go with it. It also has a cute repeated transition between nursery rhymes. The kids picked up on this right away and enjoyed saying it all together. They also took turns doing “This Little Piggy” on each others’ toes. This was a book they all enjoyed reading together. It’s been harder to find books they can all equally enjoy with Sammi now 7 and an independent reader. She actually read this one to us all which warmed my heart. Another bedtime favorite!

I heard, once upon a day, that children who know at least 3 nursery rhymes by the time they are 5 will be more successful at learning to read in Kindergarten. I have searched and searched for that reference and finally found it, TONIGHT! The best part, it’s from Mem Fox in a book on children’s literacy that I have on my book shelf. Oh, the lovely circle of life. And actually, it’s 8 nursery rhymes.

“Experts in literacy and child development have discovered that if children know eight

nursery rhymes by heart by the time they’re four years old, they’re usually among the

best readers by the time they’re eight.” [Fox, M. (2001).Reading Magic. San Diego, CA:Harcourt.]

Good Night Sleep Tight will help your little one on their way to knowing 8 nursery rhymes. For daytime fun reinforcing the nursery rhymes your littles are learning, check out these fun crafts and activities:

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star-y Night Craft from Because Babies Grow Up

5 Little Ducks Went Out to Play from Red Ted Art

Pat-A-Cake from Learning 4 Kids

Hey Diddle Diddle from One Perfect Day

What are your favorite bedtime read alouds?