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Lantern Path Books
Oliver Gets Ready for Bed - picture book cover by Lantern Path Books.

Book Two of the Oliver Series

Oliver Gets Ready for Bed

A calm bedtime-routine story for little ones who like the quiet kind. Ages 2 to 5, made to be read aloud at the end of the day.

24 pages paperback ages 2–5

Oliver is winding down. Toys put away. Scarf on the bedpost. Lamp on its soft glow. The small rituals of a calm bedtime, one by one.

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About the book

Oliver Gets Ready for Bed is a bedtime routine told at bedtime pace. The lamp glows soft and gold. The library is warm and quiet. Oliver closes his book, stands up, and it is time to get ready. That is the whole shape of it, and that is the point.

Bath water just right. Bubbles and small splashes. A big warm towel. He hangs his scarf on the bedpost for tomorrow, brushes his beak, and tucks himself in. Outside the window a friend walks past in the dim, and Oliver waves. A few quiet lines by the lamp light, eyes going soft, and the lamp turns lower.

There is no problem to solve here and nothing to be brave about. It is a book that does the same thing every night in the same order, because that is what a small child getting ready for bed is actually doing. Predictable is the feature, not a shortage of ideas.

Parents and carers tend to reach for this one when they want the last book of the night to slow things down rather than wake things up, or when a child is learning what comes next in their own routine and likes seeing it laid out step by step. A gentle story to enjoy together, not sleep or behaviour advice. Every child and family is different.

For ages 2–5. Paperback, 24 pages. Reads aloud in about 5–7 minutes. Pairs well with the free bedtime routine printable on the free printables page.

Reading with a very little one, or filling the half-hour before the story? Our guides to gentle bedtime stories for 2 year olds and quiet activities before bed carry on from where this book leaves off.

A note from the author

This was the second Oliver book and the one I refined the most. The bedtime scene goes through a specific routine (toys away, scarf on the bedpost, soft lamp glow) and I wanted each beat to land with a child's eye for detail.

Andrew

For educators

For reading guides and bundle pricing (5+ copies) for schools or libraries, please get in touch or see the educators page.

  • Independent Australian publisher
  • Human-curated, human-approved art
  • Free printable, read it before you buy
  • No data collected from children

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