Resources for Children with Nightmares
- The Berenstain Bears and the Bad Dream
by Stan & Jan Berenstain
Reading level: Ages 4-8
After watching a scary movie, both Brother and Sister Bear are troubled by nightmares until Mama and Papa explain what causes bad dreams.
Order this book - Go Away, Big Green Monster
by Ed Emberley
Reading level: Ages 4-8.
Each page of this book features a new part of a big green monster--his nose, his teeth, his eyes--which soon disappear again as young readers continue to turn the pages.
Order this book - There’s a Nightmare in My Closet
by Mercer Mayer
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Childhood fear of the dark and the resulting exercise in imaginative exaggeration are given that special Mercer Mayer treatment in this dryly humorous fantasy.
Order this book - One Dark and Scary Night (A Little Bill Book for Beginning Readers)
by Bill Cosby, illustrated by Varnette P. Honeywood
Reading level: Ages 4-8
As Little Bill lies in bed, he hears thumps in the dark. With a magic tucking-into-bed trick, Little Bill's great grandmother, Alice the Great, makes sure the scary things are gone for good.
Order this book - Monsters in Your Bed...Monsters in Your Head
by Rainey L. Friedman and Lorraine Friedman, illustrated by Betsy Dill.
Reading level: Ages 4-8
A children’s picture book with a wonderful rhyme and beautiful illustrations that empowers children to overcome their nighttime fears while learning about social issues. Journey into a whimsical world of lovable monsters, a magic DreamDog, and a little girl who learns how to help others while helping herself.
Order this book - What If the Shark Wears Tennis Shoes?
by Winifred Morris, illustrated by Betsy Lewin
Reading level: Ages 4-8
In a bedtime book with an enormously satisfying and reassuring conclusion, increasingly unlikely--and hilarious--"what if's" gently poke fun at nighttime fears.
Order this book - And If the Moon Could Talk
by Kate Banks, illustrated by Georg Hallensleben
Reading level:Ages 4-8
Evocative text and soothing pictures illuminate interior and exterior nighttime scenes in this beautiful book which shows readers what the moon might share with them--if it could talk.
Order this book - Isaac’s Dreamcatcher
by Bonnie Farmer, illustrated by Anouk Perusse-Bell
Reading level: Ages 4-8
A thoughtful and gentle story about a young boy who dreads naptime because of a monster in his dreams... but the kindly teacher Miss Louise draws upon her Native American heritage to fashion a "dreamcatcher" to filter out bad dreams and welcome in the good ones.
Order this book - Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go to Sleep
by Joyce Dunbar, illustrated by Debi Gliori
Reading level: Ages 4-8
In this endearing bedtime story, Willa's big brother helps her get to sleep by reminding her about all of the happy things around her. Willa is afraid of bad dreams. "Think of something happy," suggests her big brother, Willoughby. But Willa needs his help. So together they think of all the happy things that await her in the morning--cozy slippers to warm her little feet, a yummy breakfast, and the morning itself, which loves to gently nudge her awake.
Order this book - Goodnight Moon & Other Sleepytime Tales (Video)
Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd's bestselling children's book headlines this winning 25-minute collection of sleepytime tales from HBO. Susan Sarandon narrates the simple story of a bunny readying for bed. Other top entertainers lend their voices to the tape: Tony Bennett sings the story of "Hit the Road to Dreamland"; Lauryn Hill brings rhythm to "Hush, Little Baby"; Billy Crystal lends many voices to Mercer Mayer's "There's a Nightmare in My Closet"; and singers Natalie Cole, Aaron Neville, and Patti LeBelle sing other tales. A dandy video for the youngster, punctuated with "interviews" of real kids answering a host of bedtime questions.
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