Good Night, Gorilla

Why It's On Our Shelf

There's almost no text in this book, which means kids can 'read' it themselves by following the pictures. The gorilla sneaking keys and letting all the animals out is genuinely funny, and the zookeeper not noticing until he's in bed is the kind of oblivious humor that kids love. The dark color palette actually works for bedtime because it signals that it's nighttime, and the ending where all the animals end up in bed together is cozy. What makes this work is that it's entertaining without being exciting - the humor is gentle enough not to ramp kids up when you're trying to calm them down.