Goodnight Tractor, by Michelle Robinson, is a lovely rhyming picture book ideal as a bedtime story for young children.
Summary: This book follows a boy wishing his farm toys goodnight on his way to bed. With 1-2 short rhyming sentences on each page, full page illustrations of farm-themed toys and farm scenes, there’s a lot to enjoy, without being too overstimulating at bedtime. Young tractor fans as well as children who are interested in farm animals will enjoy the cheerful images.
The use of sentences in younger children’s books is something we enjoy: rather than labels of each picture, there’s a lovely rhythm to reading this book which feels calming and soothing.
Best Bit: There’s a repeated line through several pages “goodnight tractor, it’s time to sleep” (rhymed with various other lines) which becomes a gentle reminder to children as they listen to the words and is almost whispered by the end of the book. Each one has the boy getting closer to bed, with the last page showing him sleeping in bed with his tractor beside him and the rest of the farm toys arranged on the carpet ready for the next day.
Time to read: It takes a few minutes from start to end, certainly enough to help “wind down” an overexcited young child without being too long at bedtime. We often read it in a couple of minutes, although it can be stretched to 10 minutes if all the pictures are carefully inspected…
Would we read it during the day? Probably not. The repetition of the goodnight theme is probably a bit too much for non-bedtime reading.
Pages: board book/paperback also available
Age range: ideal for the under 2s although can still be read and enjoyed by 2 year olds.
Buy or Borrow: buy
