If I asked you to come up with a list of characters for a little boy's story book, what would you add to the list?  Would it take you very long before dragons and knights would be added to that list?  If you are a boy mama, I'm guessing those would be fairly high on the list (maybe depending on their age).

My boys love stories with dragons, and if you add a knight with a horse and sword, well you have a home run!

So I was not surprised when both of my boys wanted to sit and read Good Night, Good Knight over and over for two weeks.  Shelley Moore Thomas did a wonderful job of creating a wonderfully good knight that has a heart to care for little dragons who need help falling asleep while on his night watch.


This is technically a "young reader" book, meaning there are many sight words that are repeated throughout the story in order to build young reader's abilities and confidence. The story itself is very compelling throughout and has a heart-filled message.



We read about three little dragon, who are poor and all alone and are getting ready for bed.  Then the story switches to the good knight.  The good knight keeps watch of the kingdom from the "crumbly, tumbly tower" on top of a "very tall wall." Well one night the good knight heard a very large roar, and decided to check on it, so we follow as he discovers some little dragons looking for someone to help them get ready for bed.  One dragon just ones a drink a water, while another wants a story and one to be tucked in... and at the end they all want one last little something from the knight so they might fall asleep.

The story, to me, echoed my feelings of putting kids to bed that just want one more something before they fall asleep. And how moms and dads lovingly continue to give in (sometimes) in order to ensure their "little dragons" fall asleep.  My boys were just enchanted by the sing-song-y parts of the story and the adorable illustrations and sat through this longer bedtime story.

If you are a boy mama looking for enchanting books to read to your little ones, I highly recommend this one. I also found that it is part of series from Shelley Moore Thomas, check out her site here. I can't wait to get the other stories and read them! Plus there is a fun link on her site to some great teaching lessons for parents and teachers to use with the Good Knight: check it out here.

I have to admit there were some ulterior motives behind choosing this book.  I wanted to introduce homophones to my older son, as he has shown a great interest in talking about how letters are spelled. Yes this is a slightly older skill, homophones, than where my son is, but there is no harm in introducing such concepts. Besides it's just plain fun to read "Good night, Good knight" over and over!

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Have you picked books out for your kids to introduce a concept to teach them before? What concepts? Do your boys love knights and dragons? Do your girls love princesses? (if you have girls that love princesses, I slightly jealous...)  Let me know, I love hearing from you.






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