A Good Book to Tell Your Kids “Good Night” (Book Review)

Thornton, Champ. Why Do We Say Good Night? New Growth Press, Greensboro, NC. 2019. 32 pages.

As a kid, I was afraid of the dark. More than that, though, I remember what my caring parents did in response to comfort me. They shared with me Scripture. They pointed me to passages to ensure me the Lord was with me and watching over me. I still recall the piece of paper my parents wrote a Bible verse on for me to read anytime fear started to creep in my mind and heart. That piece of paper was the encouragement I needed to overcome my fear and to look to the Lord in faith, trusting in His care. What that piece of paper did for me is what Champ Thornton’s new book Why Do We Say Good Night? will do for children of today who are scared of the dark and afraid of nighttime.

A Good God and A Good Night

With colorful illustrations by Rommel Ruiz, Why Do We Say Good Night? reminds children as they head to bed that they have no reason to fear because God is near. Through rhyme, the book shows a mother teaching her child why we say good night. She starts with the truth the Lord made day and night. With God creating night, everything is good and right. When kids may fear, God comforts and is near. A section of the book sums it well when it says, “with perfect sight—our God is watching through the night.” Because there is a good God there can be a good night.

A Good Book for Saying Good Night

Why Do We Say Good Night? engages children’s nighttime fears and encourages them with the comfort that the Creator of life and Shepherd of their soul is watching over and caring for them. The topic for this book will interest children and parents into reading it, and the rhyming in the book will capture their attention. Rather than shaming children for their feelings of fear, Thornton helps kids understand their fear and why they can look to someone bigger in faith than their fears. If you know a child who is scared of the dark and struggling with nighttime fears, then you will want to comfort them with this book by Champ Thornton. Get this good book so children can be comforted about a good God as you tell them “Good night!”

I received this book from New Growth Press in exchange for this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own and are my honest review of the book.