Animal Stories

Good Night, Little Bear was one of Caroline’s favorite stories for a stretch of time. This classic Little Golden Book has many things to love about it and fits perfectly into Homeschooling with Cozy Books.

Just as with the two surprising reasons I loved the Little Bear television series and DVDs, there is a lot of similarity between the bear family in this book and our family. For starters, it is a bear family with an only child and I always appreciate it when I can find stories that reflect our family. There are also some similarities in the personalities of the father, mother, and child with our family.

And it’s just a fun story.

Good Night, Little Bear

It is time for Little Bear to go to bed after Mother Bear reads him a story. Father Bear swings Little Bear up on his shoulders and takes him to his bedroom. But Little Bear doesn’t climb down into the bed and Father Bear decides to play along and pretend he can’t find Little Bear. Father Bear looks everywhere throughout the house for Little Bear. Even Mother Bear plays along.

The story includes all sorts of cute little activities and verbal sparring among the loving family. How does Father Bear finally find Little Bear?

You’ll have to read the book to find out!

Good Night, Little Bear is a sweet family story full of love and fun. It definitely is worth adding to your basket of cozy books.

I happened upon Bunny’s Book Club at the local bookstore one afternoon. It was another one of those love at first sight type books that I decided to bring home. Written by Annie Silvestro and illustrated by Tatjana Mai-Wyss, it’s a cute tale of what happens when a bunny discovers books.

(Annie Silvestro is also the author of Mice Skating, another darling book I’ve included in my Homeschooling with Cozy Books series.)

Bunny’s Book Club

Bunny discovered the joy of books when one of the librarians read to children outside during the warmer months. He was able to go on many adventures by listening to those stories.

But when the weather turned cooler and story time was moved inside, Bunny had a terrible problem. He had discovered he couldn’t live without books. What to do?

So one night he tries to sneak into the library after hours and discovers the book drop.

What happens when his friends discover what he’s been doing? And what happens when the librarian with the red glasses finds out?

You’ll have to read the book to find out what happens next!

Bunny’s Book Club is a sweet story of animals discovering they cannot live without books!

You Can Do It, Sam by Amy Hest and illustrated by Anita Jeram is a story about a bear named Sam who goes on a little neighborly adventure with his mother.

This is the same Sam that is in Don’t You Feel Well, Sam? and Kiss Good Night, both part of Homeschooling with Cozy Books.

You Can Do It, Sam

It’s a wintry morning on Plum Street, and Mrs. Bear and Sam are making cakes to share with their neighbors. Sam waits for the cakes to be done and cool enough to deliver.

When the cakes are ready, Mrs. Bear and Sam load them up into Mrs. Bear’s green truck and take off.

But the biggest surprise is when Mrs. Bear tells Sam to carry the cake all the way up to their neighbor’s house by himself! Through the deep snow! Can Sam do such a big thing alone?

Snow, baking cakes, a green truck, neighbors, and a warm fire at the end. What could be more cozy?

This is a great book to read with little ones who are learning to be brave and do things on their own.

We read this book to Caroline so many times that I can confidently say you should definitely add You Can Do It, Sam (and all the other Same books) to your bookshelf!

Kiss Good Night by Amy Hest is the third Sam book I’m sharing in my cozy book series! Previously I wrote about Don’t You Feel Well, Sam? and You Can Do It, Sam, both books about a bear named Sam and his mother.

These are sweet stories especially for toddlers and preschoolers although we read them for a few years after that as well.

Kiss Good Night

It’s time for Sam to go to bed, but he’s waiting for something. Mrs. Bear does all of the special bedtime things with Sam, but he’s still waiting.

And waiting.

He’s waiting for his good-night kiss from his mother!

This book has gorgeous illustrations with rich colors. They are different from what I normally like in a book, but they just work so perfectly. The text is written in a different sing-song kind of way as it is in the other two Sam books. Amy Hest definitely has her own unique writing style.

I think almost all little ones would like Kiss Good Night read aloud to them. We read it over and over and over again when Caroline was little. I definitely recommend all three of the Sam books.

And if your child really loves the Sam books, check this out! I so wish we would have seen this when Caroline was little! She would have loved having a Sam bear to hold while we were reading and to play with along with her other stuffed animals.

I definitely recommend adding Kiss Good Night (and all the Sam books) to your home library.