BEDTIME SHORT STORIES

A rhyming, songlike book of illustrated short stories for kids to read aloud.

In this collection of bedtime stories, children and animals learn to work together as a team, to treat their mothers with respect, and how to relax when they’re stressed out. Davis presents the 10 stories as poems, some of which are written in stanza form; the repetition, spelled-out words—“It’s my home that completes me. H-O-M-E, HOME”—and abundance of exclamation points help make them good for kids to read aloud with their parents. For instance, in “Row with me,” a poem about finding friends to help row a boat with, Davis writes: “We all row so well. We all yelled, ‘hurray!’ / The bell sounded off as tingles and jingles! How great! / at the finish line our mates row to go and go. / We won the race with a ho ho ho hi ho!!!” A singsong quality to the writing makes it flow easily, and each story is very short, in either one or two columns on a single page—an ideal length for reading a few before bed. A colorful illustration faces each story and helps explain the text, which could be helpful for young children trying to understand the book themselves. Some of the stories have a clear, well-outlined plot, such as “Moody Blues”: “Those moody, moody blues showed up too. / Sweetheart too much fretting is upsetting. / Don’t feel sad and mad that it upset you?! You upset me too! / You can’t let those moody, moody blues come over you.” Other stories, however, such as “Beautiful Blue Diamond,” about a ballerina getting a new “Bluetifull blue” ring and twirling about, don’t have much of a plot or enough to capture the imagination of young readers. Kids looking for engaging stories might not be satisfied here, but those learning to sound out words and to read on their own will appreciate the rhymes and silly phrases.

Easy to read and mildly enjoyable, best for kids learning to read on their own.